A review of ceramic, polymer and composite piezoelectric materials

Abstract

Piezoelectric materials have been studied for nearly a century now. Initially employed in sonar technology, piezoelectric materials now have a vast set of applications including energy harvesting, sensing and actuation, and have found their way into our everyday lives. Piezoelectric material properties are being further enhanced to improve their performance and be used in novel applications. This review provides an overview of piezoelectric materials, and offers a material science and fabrication perspective on progress towards the development of practical piezoelectric energy harvesters and sensors. Piezoelectric materials have been divided into the three following classes for this review: ceramics, polymers and composites. The prominent materials under each class are examined and compared, with a focus on their linear piezoelectric response in the d33 mode. The three classes of piezoelectric materials are also compared qualitatively for a range of metrics, and the applications that each material class are best suited for is discussed. Novel piezoelectric materials such as ferroelectrets and nanogenerator devices are also reviewed here. It is shown that ceramic piezoelectric materials have strong piezoelectric properties but are stiff and brittle, whereas polymer piezoelectric materials are flexible and lightweight but do not exhibit very good piezoelectric performance. Composite materials are concluded to possess the advantages of both ceramic and polymer materials, with room to tailor-fit properties by modifying the structure and composition.

Structure–Property Relationship of Piezoelectric Properties in Zeolitic Imidazolate Frameworks: A Computational Study

“…Comparing ZIFs with piezoelectrics other than Zn/Cd inorganics and PVDF, ZIF-8 has a d 14 comparable to d 33 of LiNbO 3 (11 pC/N), poly- l -lactic acid (PLLA) (11 pC/N), and metal-free organic piezoelectric MDABCO–NH 4 I 3 (14 pC/N) . Piezoelectrics such as PZT (410 pC/N), BaTiO 3 (191 pC/N), and KNN (80–160 pC/N) (potassium sodium niobate) and recent hybrid materials such as TMCM–MnCl 3 (185 pC/N) (trimethylchloromethyl ammonium trichloromanganese) have a large piezoelectric response , than CdIF-1 in this work. Specifically, for the metal-free MDABCO–NH 4 X 3 (X = Cl, Br, or I), the d ik (250 pC/N) of MDABCO–NH 4 X 3 is larger than that of all the ZIFs investigated in this work, which is mainly due to larger e ik (0.35 C/m 2 ) than ZIFs because the highest s pq (650 TPa –1 ) is lower than the s 44 of ZIFs.…”

“…Piezoelectricity has been found in traditional materials such as inorganic ceramic oxides and organics polymers, among which a high piezoelectric constant was found in lead zirconate titanate (PZT, 360 pC/N) and barium titanate (BaTiO 3 , 191 pC/N) for inorganics, while among soft materials, polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and its copolymers (−40 pC/N) have a high piezoelectric constant. Ceramics and polymers have their own set of advantages and disadvantages as piezoelectric materials, which are summarized and reviewed in the previous literature. , Ceramics have strong piezoelectric properties but are stiff and brittle, whereas polymers have mild processing conditions and excellent flexibility, making them suitable for physically flexible electronics, but do not have very high piezoelectric coefficients. , Moreover, in contrast to inorganics, the acoustic static impedance of polymers is better matched to that of water and living tissues, making them better equipped to harvest energy in these media . With the aim of combining the best of both polymer and ceramic piezoelectric components, composite and hybrid materials were fabricated.…”

Dielectric, electric, and piezoelectric properties of three‐phase piezoelectric composite based on castor‐oil polyurethane, lead zirconate titanate particles and multiwall carbon nanotubes

“…In this sense, piezoelectric composites are promising materials whose applications range from sensors and energy harvesting systems to wearable technology. In order to meet such needs, composites with high moldability, flexibility, and piezoelectric coefficient are highly desirable and, amongst these composites, are the ones based on castor‐oil polyurethanes 11–14 …”

“…In order to meet such needs, composites with high moldability, flexibility, and piezoelectric coefficient are highly desirable and, amongst these composites, are the ones based on castor-oil polyurethanes. [11][12][13][14] Castor oil is attractive to obtain PUR because it has a high number of hydroxyl groups ( OH) that react with isocyanate ( NCO) to form urethane bonds. 15 These hydroxyl groups are derived from ricinoleic acid, which constitutes approximately 80% of the oil.…”

The 0-3 Lead Zirconate-Titanate (PZT)/Polyvinyl-Butyral (PVB) Composite for Tactile Sensing

“…However, piezoelectric ceramics are difficult to use in a variety of environments owing to their restricted formability, hardness, and brittleness [ 8 ]. Studies on piezoelectric composites made of piezoelectric ceramic and polymer have been actively conducted to improve and compensate for these limitations [ 1 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ]. These diphasic composites were developed to combine the high piezoelectric charge coefficient and dielectric constant of piezoelectric ceramics with the flexibility of the polymers.…”