Comparative study on storing energy for (Ba,Zr)TiO3 and CuO-(Ba,Zr)TiO3 ceramics for piezoelectric energy harvesting applications

Abstract

The environmental regulations for lead-based materials have resulted in the piezoelectric energy harvester based on lead-free piezoelectric ceramics attracting increased attention. In this work, two different types of piezoelectric materials, Ba(Zr0.04Ti0.96)O-3 and CuO-Ba(Zr0.04Ti0.96)O-3 ceramics, have been employed for energy harvesters applications to replace lead-based energy harvesters. The BZT and CuO-BZT ceramics were prepared by the conventional solid solution method. The piezoelectric properties of CuO-BZT ceramics showed higher piezoelectric values (d(33) = 302 pC/N and g(33) = 20.64 mV m/N) than those of BZT ceramics: (d(33) = 268 pC/N and g(33) = 19.11 mV m/N). The XBZT and CuO-BZT ceramics were stacked in a multilayered structure to form triple layers. The stored energy in the capacitors (3 mu F) for multilayered BZT and CuO-BZT were 1.72 and 2.67 mJ/cm(3), respectively. The energy harvesters based on the lead-free ceramics BZT and CuO-BZT were analyzed and compared.