Piezoelectric and dielectric behavior of 0-3 asphalt-based composites with carbon black

Abstract Asphalt-based piezoelectric composites have great potential to serve as sensors to monitor the health of asphalt pavements due to their compatibility with asphalt pavements and appropriate response behaviors. This paper reports the preparation of asphalt-based piezoelectric composites doped with carbon black to investigate the influence of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) and carbon black contents on the dielectric, piezoelectric, and electromechanical properties of the composites. The addition of carbon black as a conductive phase facilitates the poling process, which improves the poling efficiency. The results indicate that with increasing PZT content, the dielectric constant ( e r ), piezoelectric strain factor ( d 33 ) and planar electromechanical coupling coefficient ( K p ) of the composites increase. e r , d 33 , and K p of the composites increase with the increase of carbon black content, and the composites with 0.3 vol% carbon black present the maximum values of 154.89, 75.74 pC/N and 37.73%, respectively, then decrease with greater carbon black content. However, tan δ shows an opposite trend with the variation of PZT and carbon black contents. With 80 vol% PZT and 0.3 vol% carbon black, tan δ decreases to the minimum value of 20.80, then increases with further increases in carbon black content. The variation of the mechanical quality factor ( Q m ) shows little association with the contents of PZT or carbon black.