Quasi-static piezoelectric strain and recoverable energy at a low biased field in Sr2+ substituted electrostrictive BZT ceramic

Sr2+ modified perovskite-type polycrystalline BaTi0.9Zr0.1O3 ferroelectric ceramic exhibits high potential to engage in piezoelectric or high energy density storage applications. In this study, the structural, microstructural, electrical, ferroelectric and piezoelectric behaviours have been investigated in detail. The developed material crystallizes in tetragonal phase with a decrease in lattice parameter by substituting Sr2+ ion in the A site. Each composition shows a diffused phase transition, which is a characteristic of the relaxor phase. A significant decrease in phase transition temperature from 99.8°C for x = 0.00 to 50.9°C for x = 0.20 is observed. The large energy density storage capacity for composition x = 0.10 with Wrec ~ 62.18 mJ cm–3 has been observed at a low field, but maximum efficiency η = ~81.46% is observed for x = 0.20. The Sr2+ doped composition with x = 0.10 shows good piezoelectric strain = 0.029% with a small hysteresis loss in S–E curve, which makes it suitable for piezoelectric application. The significantly high electrostrictive coefficient Q11 = 0.078 m4 C–2 is observed for composition x = 0.15.