Additive manufacturing: pushing the boundaries of piezoelectric materials

Abstract

Piezoelectric effects have attracted long-term research both from academic and industrial interests. However, constrained by their inherent crystal symmetry, conventional piezoelectric materials have limited non-zero piezoelectric coefficients, which impedes the practical applications thereof. Inspired by metamaterial design, artificial anisotropy was proposed to achieve all non-zero piezoelectric coefficients. Here, the design concepts and preparation methods of piezoelectric metamaterials were surveyed. Although the realization of a full set of piezoelectric coefficients is inseparable from the construction of unique structure, compared with traditional approaches, additive manufacturing has appealing advantages in the complex, diverse and integrated process. It is believed that additive manufacturing holds infinite potential for manufacturing piezoelectric materials to break through their boundaries in the future.