Improved Piezoelectric Properties of (Bi, Sc)O-3-(Pb, Ti)O-3 Ceramics Based on the Two-Step Sintering Process

Abstract

The relatively lower lead contents in (Bi, Sc)O-3-(Pb, Ti)O-3 ceramic is the potential piezoelectric material for actuator or sensor applications. (Bi, Sc)O-3-(Pb, Ti)O-3 ceramic has a high piezoelectric charge coefficient of 473 pC/N and high Curie temperature of 382 degrees C. For the dielectric properties, (Bi, Sc)O-3-(Pb, Ti)O-3 ceramic has also high relative dielectric permittivity of 1200 at 1 kHz range. It seems that (Bi, Sc)O-3-(Pb, Ti)O-3 ceramic has excellent piezoelectric and dielectric properties. However, the Bi2O3 contents in the (Bi, Sc)O-3-(Pb, Ti)O-3 ceramic have a relatively lower sintering temperature around 817 degrees C. Therefore, to avoid volatilization of Bi contents, a sintering process with a lower temperature should be considered. To lower the sintering temperature, a two-step sintering process was employed in this research. Increased the sintering time under deceased sintering temperature can improve the sintering process. In this research, by optimizing a two-step sintering process, the piezoelectric properties were enhanced compared with those of conventionally sintered (Bi, Sc)O-3-(Pb, Ti)O-3 ceramics.