Facile preparation and performance of novel high-TC xBi(Ni1/2Ti1/2)O3-(1-x)Pb(Zr1/2Ti1/2)O3 piezoceramics

High Curie temperature (TC) xBi(Ni1/2Ti1/2)O3-(1-x)Pb(Zr1/2Ti1/2)O3 (xBNT-(1-x)PZT, BNT-PZT) piezoelectric ceramics were prepared by the conventional ceramic processing. The composition-induced morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) and its influences on structure and electrical performance were investigated. The synthesized BNT-PZT ceramics exhibit rather pure perovskite structure, and densified microstructure morphology with uniform elementals distribution in both grains and grain boundaries. With increasing the content of Bi(Ni1/2Ti1/2)O3 (BNT), crystal structure of the BNT-PZT ceramics transform from tetragonal phase to rhombohedral phase, and dielectric response peaks change from narrow shape to very broad shape but all presenting dielectric frequency dispersion. The diffused and relaxation dielectric behavior can be fitted well by the quadratic law, and the Vogel-Fulcher law fitting provides additional information on the relaxation characteristic. The MPB effects are confirmed further by ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties measurements. High-TC combined with excellent piezoelectric performance can be realized in the BNT-PZT system, which presents promising applications in geothermal exploration, aerospace and related elevated temperatures fields.