Influence of aspect ratio on effective electromechanical coupling of nanocomposites with lead zirconate titanate nanowire inclusion

Piezoelectric ceramics offer exceptional sensing and actuation properties, however, they are prone to breakage and are difficult to apply to curved surfaces in their monolithic form. One method to alleviate these issues is through the use of 0–3 active composites, which are formed by embedding piezoelectric particles into a polymer matrix that protects the ceramic from breaking under mechanical loading. This class of material offers certain advantages over monolithic materials; however, they have seen little use due to the low electromechanical coupling offered by these materials. Here, we demonstrate that by controlling the aspect ratio of the filler, the electromechanical coupling coefficient can be significantly improved. For all volume fractions tested, nanocomposites with high aspect ratio lead nanowires filler had higher coupling with increases as large as 2.3 times. Furthermore, the nanocomposite’s coupling was more than 50% of the piezoceramic fillers’ when nanowires were used.