High Piezoelectricity of Multicomponent Lead-Based Ceramics with High Temperature Stability

The design of the composition and adjustment of multicomponents to achieve a high chemical disorder are the important strategies for obtaining high piezoelectricity at a high depolarization temperature, which is conducive to a wide range of electromechanical applications. Here, the solid-state reaction method is used to prepare PZT-based piezoelectric ceramics; the replacement of A/B site ions by multielements flattens the ferroelectric free energy, which realized the high piezoelectric coefficient d33 of ∼1000 pC/N at a good Curie temperature TC of 128 °C and the depolarization temperature TFE–FE of 105 °C. The microstructure of the ferroelectric phase and ferroelectric domain is systematically characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, piezoresponse force microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The atomic-scale substitutions of the A/B site-disordered elements break the long-range polarization order with the accompanied Pb vacancies. The excess Ni2+ ions can regulate the grain growth, and the valence of Sb changed from Sb3+ to Sb5+, which is able to induce Pb2+ vacancies. These synergistic effects of grain size and vacancy structure optimize the piezoelectric properties and temperature stability.