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Effect of (Bi0.5K0.5)TiO3 on the electrical properties, thermal and fatigue behavior of (K0.5Na0.5)NbO3-based lead-free piezoelectrics

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Abstract

The (1 − x) [0.94(K0.5Na0.5)NbO3–0.06LiNbO3]–x(Bi0.5K0.5)TiO3 (abbreviated as: KNLN6−xBKT, x = 0−0.05) lead-free piezoelectric ceramics were prepared using conventional solid sintering method. The effects of BKT on the phase structure, electrical properties, temperature stability, and fatigue behavior of KNLN6 ceramics were systematically studied. Results show that BKT substitution into KNLN6 induces a phase transition from coexistence of orthorhombic and tetragonal phases to a single tetragonal phase with a normal-relaxor ferroelectric transformation and correspondingly shifts the polymorphic phase transition below room temperature. Accordingly, the temperature stability of the properties is significantly improved, and a flat, temperature stable behavior over the temperature range of 25–150 °C is observed in BKT-modified ceramics. Temperature-dependent structural analysis suggests that the good properties insensitive to temperature of the modified samples can be ascribed to the stable tetragonal phase over a wide temperature range, evident by the almost unchanged tetragonality c/a ratio with temperature. Moreover, the BKT-modified ceramics not only exhibit temperature-independent characteristic but also possess fatigue-free behavior. All the electric parameters, including unipolar/bipolar strain S, remnant polarization Pr, permittivity εr, and large signal d33*, display no degradation up to 105 switching cycles. The exceptionally good fatigue resistance and temperature stable behavior make the modified KNN-based materials excellent candidates for lead-free actuators and transducers.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51402144, 51372110, 51302124), the Project of Shandong Province Higher Educational Science and Technology Program (Grant Nos. J14LA11 and J14LA10), the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (No. 2013AA030801), Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangdong Province, China (No. 2013B091000001), Independent innovation and achievement transformation in Shandong Province special, China (No. 2014CGZH0904), the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province of China (Grant Nos. ZR2012EMM004 and ZR2014JL030), and the Research Foundation of Liaocheng University (Nos. 318051407, 318011301, 318011306).

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  1. College of Materials Science and Engineering, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng, Shandong Province, 252059, People’s Republic of China

    Jigong Hao, Zhijun Xu, Ruiqing Chu, Wei Li & Juan Du

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  1. Jigong Hao
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Correspondence to Zhijun Xu.

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Hao, J., Xu, Z., Chu, R. et al. Effect of (Bi0.5K0.5)TiO3 on the electrical properties, thermal and fatigue behavior of (K0.5Na0.5)NbO3-based lead-free piezoelectrics. Journal of Materials Research 30, 2018–2029 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2015.169

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