Synergistic enhancement of piezoelectric performance and temperature stability of lead zirconate titanate ceramics

Abstract The rapid advancement of modern electromechanical applications has imposed urgent demands for piezoelectric ceramics featuring both superior piezoelectric performance and a broad operational temperature range. Nevertheless, concurrently achieving high piezoelectricity and reliable thermal stability in lead zirconate titanate (PZT)‐based piezoceramics remains a herculean challenge. To address this issue, we designed a [Pb 0.99 Sm 0.01 ][(Zr 0.54 Ti 0.46 ) 1− x Ta x ]O 3 (PSZT‐ x Ta) ceramic system. By introducing defect dipoles via heterovalent ion doping in the perovskite ABO 3 lattice to suppress oxygen vacancies, we realized exceptional properties in the PSZT‐0.03Ta ceramics, including a Curie temperature ( T C ) of 334°C, a piezoelectric coefficient ( d 33 ) of 539 pC/N, and an electromechanical coupling factor ( k p ) of 0.63. These materials also exhibited excellent thermal stability, with d 33 varying by less than 10% from 18 to 188°C and k p and resonance frequency ( f r ) changing by only 3.5% and 2%, respectively, from 30 to 200°C. The synergism between high piezoelectricity and thermal stability arises from the synergistic interplay of multiple factors: The stable coexistence of tetragonal (T) and rhombohedral (R) phases at the morphotropic phase boundary, where the R phase contributes significant lattice distortion and volume expansion while the T phase ensures structural stability; A hierarchical domain structure comprising micrometer‐scale domains and nano‐stripe domains; Defect dipoles that effectively mitigate oxygen vacancy formation.