Lead-free high performance Bi(Zn0.5Ti0.5)O3-modified BiFeO3-BaTiO3 piezoceramics

In this article, structure, dielectric, ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties of Bi rich Bi1.05(Zn0.5Ti0.5)O3-modified BiFeO3-BaTiO3 (BF-BT-xBZT) ceramics were investigated experimentally. Crystal structure, phase purity and microstructure were examined through X-ray diffractometry and scanning electron microscopy, respectively. The crystallographic results show the formation of single-phase solid solutions for all compositions except x = 10 mol%. The BF-BT modification through BZT instigates variation in grain size, enhancement in Curie temperature (TC) and field induced polarization and strain response. Large field induced strain of ∼0.24% at low driving field along with a small hysteresis of ∼38% was observed for 2 mol% BZT modified BF-BT ceramics. These investigated results signpost the potentiality of BF-BT-xBZT ceramics in high temperature piezoelectric device applications.