LPF-doped core-shell structure based CFO/PLZT 0-3 magnetoelectric composite ceramics

Using LiF and PbF2 (mole ratio 1:1, LPF) as sintering additives, the xCoFe2O4/(1 − x) Pb0.9025La0.065(Zr0.58Ti0.42)0.975Nb0.02O3 [x = 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, and 0.4 in weight] (abbreviate as CFO/PLZT) 0-3 magnetoelectric (ME) composite ceramics were developed via a liquid phase sintering technique. A ZrO2 layer was coated on the CFO particles via a sol-gel method in order to inhibit the diffusion of Fe3+ and Co2+ ions from the ferrite CFO phase to the ferroelectric PLZT phase. With using 6 wt% additives of LPF, dense composite ceramics can be obtained in a sintering temperature region of 1000-1150 °C for 30 min. Moreover, overall performance of the ceramics with relatively low CFO content (x = 0.2) has been optimized. The effects of CFO content and sintering temperature on micromorphology, crystalline structure, piezoelectric, dielectric, and ME properties were investigated. It was found that the 0.2CFO/0.8PLZT composite ceramics exhibited a d33 of 80 pC/N and a ME coefficient of 102 mV/Oe cm at 215 kHz.