Simultaneous achievement of large strain, low hysteresis, and high-temperature stability in textured BT-based piezoelectric ceramics
Xiyue Zhang, Zhe Wang, Peng Li, Yingchun Liu, Juan Du, Jigong Hao, Wei Li, Jiwei Zhai
Abstract
BaTiO<sub>3</sub> (BT)-based piezoceramics with large temperature-stable strains and low hysteresis are urgently needed for high-precision actuators because of increasing environmental problems. Here, tetragonal [001]<sub>c</sub>-textured (Ba<sub>0.98</sub>Ca<sub>0.02</sub>)(Ti<sub>0.96</sub>Sn<sub>0.04</sub>)O<sub>3</sub> (BCTS) ceramics with a texture degree (<i>F</i><sub>001</sub>) of ~98% were obtained via the templated grain growth (TGG) method. A large maximum unipolar strain (<i>S</i><sub>max</sub>) of <i>~</i>0.24% with a low strain hysteresis (<i>H</i><sub>s</sub>) of ~3.8% and an optimized piezoelectric strain coefficient (<i>d</i><sub>33</sub>*) of ~1124 pm·V<sup>−1</sup> are simultaneously achieved in the textured BCTS ceramics. Moreover, the variation in the strain response is less than 20% from room temperature (RT) to 100 °C for the textured ceramics. The underlying mechanism for the optimized strain performance could be attributed to the synergetic effect of the polarization extension and a fine domain structure. This work provides new insight for achieving a balance of multiple strain properties (large strain, low hysteresis, and high-temperature stability) in BT-based ceramics, showing the widespread application prospects of lead-free ceramics in high-precision actuators.