Grain size effect on energy harvesting characteristics of lead-free BCZT ceramics with large transduction coefficient
摘要
Design of piezoelectric energy harvesters (PEHs) with high power output requires piezoceramics with a large transduction coefficient (d33 × g33). However, since the dielectric permittivity εr typically increases with the piezoelectric charge coefficient d33, it leads to a reduction in the voltage coefficient g33, making it challenging to simultaneously achieve a high d33 × g33 in PEH materials. In this study (BCZT) ceramics were prepared with varying grain sizes to modify the influence of εr and improve the dij and gij coefficients. Sol–gel derived BCZT powders were sintered at 1400 ℃ with varying peak dwell time (1 h to 12 h) resulting in grain sizes from approximately 10 µm to 30 µm. BCZT ceramics containing grain size larger than ~ 16 µm showed better ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties. Sharp dielectric transition and a high permittivity of ~ 17000 were observed for larger grain sized BCZT ceramics. A notable remnant polarization (Pr) of 12 µC/cm2 along with a low coercive field (Ec) of 0.14 kV/mm was obtained from the BCZT sample with a grain size ~ 24 µm. Grain size larger than 20 µm had shown higher piezoelectric coefficients (d33, d33*, g33) and electromechanical coefficient (kp). A high transduction coefficient d33 × g33 = 15.1 × 10−12 m2/N, with high figure of merit FOM = 13.7 × 10−10 m2/N were obtained in this study. These values are mostly significant for PEH applications, as they directly correlate with the power generation efficiency of the material under external mechanical stimulus. The ability to achieve such high transduction coefficients and FOM in lead-free BCZT ceramics highlights its strong potential for use in next-generation PEHs and in similar such energy harvesting devices. The insights gained on this grain size study of this lead-free system provide a solid foundation for further material optimization tailored specifically for high-performance and environmentally friendly energy harvesting systems.