Journal of the American Ceramic Society, Vol.85, No.3, 700-702, 2002
Properties of 0-3 lead zirconate titanate-polymer composites prepared in a centrifuge
The purpose of this work was to present the electrical and piezoelectric properties of the 0-3 piezoceramic-polymer composites prepared by spinning the lead zirconate titanate (PZT) powders with polyester resin in a centrifuge. PZT powders with average sizes of 55 and 160 gm were used and mixed in the resin with different volumetric percentages. The dielectric and piezoelectric properties such as permittivity, loss angle, electromechanical coupling factor, and piezoelectric coefficient were measured. The mechanical quality factor was calculated. The acoustic impedance was accessed by the echo-shift method. The results were analyzed and fit to mechanical models. Distribution of the ceramic particles in the polyesterresin phase was examined by scanning electron microscopy. Smaller-ceramic-particle composites seemed to form denser samples. Most of the properties showed linearly varying as the volumetric percentage of the ceramic phase. The fabrication using the centrifuging techniques resulted in more homogeneity of the ceramic and polymer phases, and the fabricated samples could be loaded up to 65% or more with the ceramic powders.