Effect of carbon black on properties of 0–3 piezoelectric ceramic/cement composites

0–3 cement-based piezoelectric composites were fabricated using sulphoaluminate cement and piezoelectric ceramic [0.08Pb(Li1/4Nb3/4)O3 · 0.47PbTiO3 · 0.45PbZrO3] [P(LN)ZT] as raw materials by compressing technique. The influences of carbon black content on the piezoelectric and dielectric properties, electric conductivity and impedance were investigated. The results indicate that the piezoelectric strain constant d33 and piezoelectric voltage constant g33 of the composites increase gradually with a suitable carbon black addition. When the carbon black content is 0.3 wt%, both of the piezoelectric strain constant d33 and piezoelectric voltage constant g33 of the composite exist the maximum value, which are 17.45 pC N−1 and 36.3 mV m N−1, respectively. As the carbon black content increases, the dielectric constant εr, dielectric loss tanδ and electric conductivity σ of the composites all increase, while the impedance decreases. In the frequency range tested, the more the carbon black content, the higher the εr value. The planar electromechanical coupling coefficient Kp, the thickness electromechanical coupling coefficient Kt and the mechanical quality factor Qm are almost unaffected by the carbon black content.