Low-Temperature Sintering of Barium Calcium Zirconium Titanate Lead-Free Piezoelectric Ceramics

Abstract

The need for lead-free piezoceramics has caused a renewal of interest in BaTiO 3 -based systems. Recently, it was found that ceramics in the (Ba,Ca)(Zr,Ti)O 3 system have properties comparable to those of Pb(Zr,Ti)O 3 . However, these ceramics require rather high sintering temperatures of 1450-1550 C. In this work, the effect of TiO 2 and CuO addition on the sintering behavior, microstructure, dielectric and piezoelectric properties of (Ba 0.85 Ca 0.15 )(Zr 0.1 Ti 0.9 )O 3 (BCTZ) ceramics will be discussed. BCTZ ceramics were prepared by the mixed oxide route and 1 mol % of TiO 2 or CuO was added. Undoped and doped ceramics were sintered at 1350C for 1-5 h. CuO was found to be a very effective sintering aid, with samples sintered for 1 h at 1350 C having a bulk density of 95% theoretical density; however the piezoelectric properties were greatly reduced, probably due to the small grain size.