Influence of sintering temperature on phase structure and electrical properties of 0.55Pb(Ni 1/3 Nb 2/3 )O 3 –0.45Pb(Zr 0.3 Ti 0.7 )O 3 ceramics

Abstract 0.55Pb(Ni 1/3 Nb 2/3 )O 3 –0.45Pb(Zr 0.3 Ti 0.7 )O 3 (abbreviated as PNN–PZT) piezoelectric ternary ceramics were prepared by conventional solid-state reaction techniques and sintered at 1200–1275 °C for 2 h. The influence of sintering temperature on phase structures, microstructure s , and electrical properties of the PNN–PZT ceramics was systematically investigated. The PNN–PZT ceramics sintered at 1250 °C for 2 h have optimal piezoelectric, dielectric, and ferroelectric properties: d 33 = 887 pC/N, k p = 0.621, Q m = 31, e r = 8763 (1 kHz), tan δ = 0.034 (1 kHz), P r = 27.55 μC/cm 2 (20 Hz), and E c = 3.32 kV/cm (20 Hz). The sintering temperature causes the change of ferroelectric phase structure in the PNN–PZT ceramics. The dielectric and piezoelectric properties are dependent on the tetragonal phase content ( TP ) which is closely associated with the sintering temperature. The tetragonal phase in the PNN–PZT ceramics has lower activation energy which is responsible for the correlation between the sintering temperatures and the dielectric and piezoelectric properties.