Journal of the American Ceramic Society, Vol.94, No.10, 3386-3390, 2011
Low-Temperature Sintering and Properties of 0.98PZT-0.02SKN Ceramics with LiBiO2 and CuO Addition
The low-temperature sintering behavior of Pb(Zr-0.53, Ti-0.47) O-3-Sr(K-0.25, Nb-0.75)O-3 (PZT-SKN) piezoelectric ceramics with LiBiO2 and CuO addition has been investigated. The addition of 6 wt% LiBiO2 or 1 wt% LiBiO2+1 wt% CuO promotes the sinterability of 0.98PZT-0.02SKN ceramics owing to the generation of a liquid phase, resulting in a reduction of sintering temperature by about 300 degrees-350 degrees C. The microstructure, dielectric, and piezoelectric properties of flux-sintered ceramics were examined and compared with materials conventionally sintered at 1250 degrees C. PZT-SKN ceramics with 1 wt% LiBiO2+1 wt% CuO addition were sintered to high density at 900 degrees C for 1 h. The resulting samples exhibited a high-field d(33) piezoelectric coefficient of 415 pm/V with a Curie temperature T-c of around 351 degrees C, dielectric constant epsilon(r) of 1235, and planar coupling factor k(p) of 0.54. The reduced sintering temperature and short soaking time, together with the favorable dielectric and piezoelectric properties of the fluxed PZT-SKN ceramics, demonstrate the potential opportunity of integration with low-temperature cofired ceramic materials and low-fire electrode materials for the multilayer piezoelectric transducer application.