Texture performance of lead-free Bi1/2Na1/2TiO3-BaZrO3 ceramics

The effect of Bi1/2Na1/2TiO3 (BNT) template on texture development of 0.94Bi1/2Na1/2TiO3-0.06BaZrO3 (BNTBZ) ceramics was investigated. Employing plate-like BNT templates, textured BNT-BZ ceramics were developed through conventional solid-state reaction (CSSR) and reactive-templated grain growth following a tape-casting process. Structural results show that all compositions crystallized into simple perovskite phase. Introduction of BNT templates into BNT-BZ ceramics stabilized the ferroelectric state and enhance dielectric constant, fieldinduced strain, and piezoelectric coefficient. Enhancement in electromechanical properties of the textured ceramics were more pronounced in comparison with conventionally processed BNT-BZ ceramics and their composite counterparts. Direct comparison of the BNT-BZ ceramics developed by CSSR with their textured counterparts showed that the dielectric constant (epsilon) of textured samples increased 32%, piezoelectric constant (d33) 70% and field-induced strain (Smax) increased 141%. The results obtained from the structure and electromechanical properties confirm that texture engineering play an important role in improving the piezoelectric properties of ceramics.