Fabrication, characterization and applications of PZT and ITO nanostructures

Lead Zirconate Titanate (PbZr1--xTixO 3, PZT) is one of the most important piezoelectric materials, which has been used traditionally as sensors and actuators. One dimensional (1-D) PZT is expected to have great potentials as building blocks for micro and nano sensors and actuators, nano active fiber composites and integrated nanosystems. The objective of this research is to investigate the size effect on mechanical and piezoelectric properties through the fabrication and characterization of 1-D PZT nanostructures such as PZT nanofibers and nanotubes. The electrospinning process and template-assisted method were used to synthesize PZT nanofibers and nanotubes, respectively. Various novel experimental methods, such as atomic force microscopy (AFM) and nanomanipulator, were used to characterize the mechanical and piezoelectric properties of PZT nanostructures.;The obtained results have shown that the piezoelectric and mechanical properties of PZT are size dependent. A single PZT nanofiber presented a lower young's modulus (42.99 GPa measured from AFM-base method and 46.6 GPa from vibration-based method, respectively) than that of PZT thin films and bulks. The PZT nanofibers with diameters smaller than 150 nm still demonstrated a strong electromechanical coupling effect. The piezoelectric constant (d 33) of PZT nanofibers increased from 574.1 pm/V to 860.5 pm/V when their diameters decreased from 112 nm to 50 nm. PZT nanotubes were found to have a d33 value of up to 595 pm/V. These values are significantly higher than that of PZT thin films and comparable to that of PZT bulks. The PZT nanofibers and nanotubes developed in this research not only provide new types of sensing and actuation mechanisms for various novel nanodevices, but also provide significantly improved performance compared with their thin film counterpart used in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS).;1-D ITO nanostructures (nanofibers and nanotubes) were synthesized and characterized for potential use as the nanoscale electrodes for PZT nanostructure-based devices because of their process compatibility. The measured electric and mechanical properties of ITO nanofibers have demonstrated their great potential for being used as nanoelectrodes for PZT nanostructures. Gas sensing properties of ITO nanostructures were also investigated and high sensor response was achieved.