Harvesting Power Through Random Vibrations of Aerospace Vehicles from Nanostructured La-Pb(Ni1/3Sb2/3) - PbZrTiO3 Ferroelectric Ceramics

Synthesis by mechanochemical activation route and optimisation for power harvesting properties of nano-structured Pb0.98La0.02(NiSb)0.05[(Zr0.52Ti0.48)0.995]0.95O3 [La-PNS-PZT] ferroelectric ceramic composition has been carried out and reported here for the first time. Progressive perovskite phase formation during mechanical activation from 5 h to 40 h followed by reactive sintering was analyzed from X-Ray Diffraction analysis. Noticeable formation of perovskite phase after10 h of milling and further its completion in successive reactive sintering was observed. Particle morphology of the 10 h activated nano-La-PNS-PZT powder analysed by High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscope (HRTEM) indicated average particle size (d50) of about 24nm. Microstructural studies of samples reactively sintered at 1220 °C were performed by Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) for powders activated for various durations, indicated the compact microstructure for 10 h activation which resulted in optimum piezoelectric properties viz. piezoelectric charge coefficient (d33=449x10-12 C/N), piezoelectric voltage coefficient (g33= 32x10-3 m-V/N), Figure of merit for power harvesting (14.4 x10-12 V-m-C/N2) accompanied by excellent stability of permittivity in the range -50 °C to 100 °C. The output voltage obtained from simulated random vibrations of aerospace vehicles at various Power Spectrum Density (PSD) values, measures about 3.0 mV output across resistance of 1 kΩ indicating suitability of composition for harvesting the power from aerospace vehicle vibrations.