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Low Temperature Sintering of the Alkali-Niobate Ceramics

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Lead-Free Piezoelectrics

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Abstract

(Na1-xKx)NbO3 (NKN)-based lead-free ceramics have been extensively investigated for the replacement of Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 (PZT)-based ceramics because of their high piezoelectric properties. However, the high sintering temperatures of NKN-based ceramics caused Na2O evaporation during sintering. Moreover, the Na2O evaporation reduced the polling efficiency and changed the microstructure and eventually degraded the piezoelectric properties of the NKN-based ceramics. Therefore, because the Na2O evaporation occurred at temperatures above 1,000°C, it is necessary to find a method to reduce the sintering temperature of the NKN-based ceramics to below 1,000°C in order to obtain reliable piezoelectric properties. In general, two methods have been used to reduce the sintering temperature of NKN-based ceramics (1) addition of sintering aids and (2) spark plasma sintering (SPS). In this chapter, detailed discussions about these two methods will be presented.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Korea University, 1-5 Ka, Anam-Dong, Sungbuk-Ku, Seoul, 136-701, Korea

    Hwi-Yeol Park & Sahn Nahm

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  1. Hwi-Yeol Park
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  2. Sahn Nahm
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Correspondence to Sahn Nahm .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Department of Mechanical Engineering, Virginia Tech, Durham Hall 310, Blackburg, 24061, USA

    Shashank Priya

  2. Korea University, Anam-dong 5-1, Seoul, 136-701, Korea, Republic of (South Korea)

    Sahn Nahm

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Park, HY., Nahm, S. (2012). Low Temperature Sintering of the Alkali-Niobate Ceramics. In: Priya, S., Nahm, S. (eds) Lead-Free Piezoelectrics. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-9598-8_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-9598-8_4

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  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-9598-8

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