Barium titanate 3–3 piezoelectric composites fabricated using binder jet printing

This study details property measurements from 3–3 BaTiO3-epoxy composite discs, fabricated using binder jet printing and post-sinter epoxy infiltration. Binder jet printing is a highly scalable additive manufacturing technique that has the potential to produce transducers with non-conventional geometries and without expensive tooling. Piezoelectric ceramic-epoxy composites are useful for certain applications, such as biomedical imaging and underwater communications, but ordinarily require difficult fabrication processes. Density, dielectric, and piezoelectric property measurements from discs sintered at temperatures between 1200—1400 °C are presented. Measured samples had porosity as low as φ=32.4%, while having a piezoelectric coefficient, electromechanical coupling coefficient, and permittivity as high as d33=110 pC/N, kp=0.274, and ε33T/ε0=411, respectively. Findings show a limitation to increasing sintering temperature to decrease porosity, and suggest a trade-off when selecting a sintering temperature between minimizing φ and maximizing kp. Measurements from the printed discs are compared to measurements from a disc fabricated using a traditional uniaxial pressing method.