Novel lead-free piezoelectric ceramics in the solid solution (1-x) bismuth iron oxide-barium titanate

Piezoelectric materials are widely used in many areas of science and technology due to their electromechanical properties. The transformation of mechanical energy into electrical signals and vice versa based on the piezoelectric effect has led to the development of sensor devices and piezoelectric actuators used in accelerometers, pressure and vibration meters, micropositioning devices, ultrasound generators, motors etc. The most technologically important piezoelectric material is lead zirconate titanate PbZrO3-PbTiO3 (PZT), however, the commercial manufacture and application of PZT as a lead-based material represent serious health hazards. The need to reduce environmental contamination by lead-based substances has created the current drive to develop alternative lead-free piezoelectric materials. The present work describes a detailed investigation of the novel multifunctional ceramic material in a solid solution of bismuth iron oxide and barium titanate (1-x)BiFeO 3-xBaTiO3 (BFBT) with an emphasis on the room temperature piezoelectric properties and structural study.;BFBT ceramics were prepared via the metal oxide solid-state preparation route. Addition of manganese oxide MnO2 increased the DC resistance by one to five orders of magnitude allowing high-field poling and piezoelectric strain measurements in Mn-modified BFBT ceramics. Piezoelectric d33 coefficients of 116 pC/N (low-field, Berlincourt) and 326 pC/N (effective, high-field) are reported for the compositions with x=0.25 and 0.33 respectively. Piezoelectric measurements using the Rayleigh law under applied large DC electric field indicated an increased low-field piezoelectric d33 coefficient to 150 pC/N (x=0.33). The DC bias is believed to stabilize the ferroclectric domain structure leading to stronger intrinsic and extrinsic contributions to the piezoelectric response in BFBT. Bright field TEM imaging confirmed formation of macroscopic domains following high field poling from initially frustrated domain state indicating the ability to induce long-range polarization order in BFBT ceramics. It is believed that the results of this work will contribute to the development of a family of lead-free piezoelectric materials based on BiFeO3-BaTiO3 system.;KEYWORDS: Bismuth ferrite, Barium titanate, Lead-free, Piezoelectric ceramics, Crystal Structure.