Effect of CeO<inf>2</inf>on sintering temperature and piezoelectric properties PZT (Zr:Ti = 52:48) ceramics

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to investigate the structure of lead zirconate titanate ceramics (Zr:Ti = 52:48) doped with CeO2and corresponding properties such as microstructural properties, physical properties, dielectric constant (εr), piezoelectric properties (kp, Qm, and d33), and the ferroelectric property. The specimens were prepared via, a, conventional mixed oxide method and sintered at 1200°C. Rietveld refinement of X-ray diffraction patterns resulted in the P4mm tetragonal structure for all samples. At a high dopant content (10 mol%), pyrochlore phases of CeO2appeared which caused the detriment of dielectric and piezoelectric properties. At a low dopant content (1 mol%), Ce1+ions entered the B site with isovalent dopant effects, and clearly resulted lower values of εr, and kpcompared with those of the undoped sample. The hysteresis loops showed ferroelectric properties for all samples. Microstructures displayed dense grain distribution and thus yielded a high density. The additional phase of CeO2was clearly observed for 10 mol% doping which implied it was overdoped. Finally, the Curie temperature has been found to decrease with increasing dopant content, as determined from high temperature X-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry. © World Scientific Publishing Company.