A composite approach boosts transduction coefficients of piezoceramics for energy harvesting

Piezoelectric energy harvesting is a hotspot in the field of new energy, the core goal of which is to prepare piezoceramics with a high transduction coefficient (d33×g33). The traditional solid–solution design strategy usually causes the same variation trend of d33 and εr, resulting in a low d33×g33 value. In this work, a composite design strategy was proposed that uses PZN–PZT/ZnAl2O4 as an example. By introducing ZnAl2O4, which is nonferroelectric with low εr, to the PZN–PZT piezoelectric matrix, εr decreased rapidly while d33 remained relatively stable. This behavior was ascribed to the increase of Q33 caused by an interfacial effect facilitating the formation of micro-domain structure.