Lead-Based Piezoelectric Materials

Abstract

This chapter discusses properties of lead-based piezoelectric materials, the most versatile and the most widely used piezoelectrics. Majority of these materials were discovered in 1950s and 1960s, and their properties and applications are described in classical textbooks, e.g. (Jaffe et al. 1971;Lines and Glass 1979). After giving essential background, this chapter will focus on recent developments. Lead titanate is discussed first, followed by modified lead titanate compositions. Lead zirconate titanate is then discussed in some details, focusing on mechanisms of hardening and softening and properties at morphotropic phase boundary. The subsequent sections discuss field-induced piezoelectric effect in relaxors, relaxor-ferroelectric ceramics, and crystals. Other lead-based materials and environmental issues are briefly discussed in the closing sections of the chapter. Lead Titanate (PbTiO 3 )Pure lead titanate, PbTiO 3 , is not commercially used as a piezoelectric material, but can be either modified or form solid solutions to obtain materials with excellent piezoelectric properties. Most of piezoelectrics presently exploited commercially are solid solutions based on lead titanate. In this section, the structure and basic properties of PbTiO 3 are presented.PbTiO 3 belongs to the perovskite family, ABO 3 . At room temperature, PbTiO 3 is ferroelectric with tetragonal C 1 4v − P4mm space group. Lead titanate undergoes a first-order phase transition at 493 • C into cubic O 1 4 − Pm3m paraelectric form. This phase transition was considered in the past to be a prototypic displacive phase transition (Lines and Glass 1979) but recent results have suggested that it exhibits mixed displacive and order-disorder character (Nelmes et al. 1990).

A Review of Mechanoluminescence in Inorganic Solids: Compounds, Mechanisms, Models and Applications

“…The effect is two-fold: on one hand, the size requirement between site A and site B can result in twisted or distorted structures, while on the other hand cation ordering is also possible. The tunability of perovskite compounds, which can be achieved by altering the crystal structure and defects configurations by means of varying chemical composition or synthesis procedures, has made perovskites successful in many applications, such as piezoelectric transducers [233], superconductors [234], catalysts [235], and phosphors [236]. Perovskite Ba${}_{1-x}$Ca${}_x$TiO${}_3$ (0.25 < x < 0.9) is composed of the tetragonal ferroelectric phase Ba${}_{0.77}$Ca${}_{0.23}$TiO${}_3$ and the orthorhombic normal dielectric Ba${}_{0.1}$Ca${}_{0.9}$TiO${}_3$ [175].…”

Flexible and Wearable Piezoelectric Nanogenerators

“…x Ti x )O 3 or PZT is a solid solution of PbTiO 3 and PbZrO 3 where these two compounds are soluble in all proportions) [2]. PZT is the most widely used piezoelectric material.…”

“…They vary from [0-0] (which means neither of the phases is self-connected) to [3] (each phase is self-connected in three dimensions) [35]. Companies like Smart Materials commercially manufacture [1][2][3] composites where the ceramic rods are arranged or scattered randomly in polymer bulk films [36]. For MEMS applications, the most commonly used configuration is rods or particles embedded in bulk polymer films [4].…”

“…The main problem with naturally occurring piezoelectric materials were their low piezoelectric coefficients. In the 1950s, the discovery of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) and barium titanate (BaTiO3) exhibiting very high piezoelectric properties brought the much-needed breakthrough [1,2]. Till now, PZT has been the most widely used piezoelectric material.…”

Morphotropic phase boundary in Sm-substituted BiFeO3 ceramics: Local vs microscopic approaches

“…This phase coexistence region has attracted a lot of attention from scientists as it has been discovered that such compounds show large sensitivity to external stimuli [1,6]. However, while currently dominant piezoelectric materials with MPB (PZT, PMN-BT) are extremely efficient they contain lead which is highly toxic [7]. Due to this drawback and overall shift towards green and sustainable chemistry, which was partly induced by anti Pb legislations, a search for a greener alternative is ongoing [8,9].…”