Highly temperature-stable piezoelectric properties of 0.96(K0.48Na0.52) (Nb0.96Sb0.04)O3-0.03BaZrO3-0.01(Bi0.50Na0.50)ZrO3 ceramic in common usage temperature range

Piezoelectric temperature stability is often a critical issue for the (K,Na)NbO3-based lead-free ceramics when used in some technical products like filters and ultrasonic devices. In this letter, we report the excellent piezoelectric performance of a dense 0.96(K0.48Na0.52)(Nb0.96Sb0.04)O-3-0.03BaZrO(3)-0.01(Bi0.50Na0.50)ZrO3 ceramic, which shows high piezoelectric coefficient d(33) = 300 pC/N and large electromechanical coupling factors k(P) = 0.56, k(33) = 0.69 at room temperature and weak piezoelectric temperature dependences in the common usage temperature range between -30 degrees C and 100 degrees C. It seems that the obtained excellent piezoelectric performance associates closely with the diffused R-O phase transition and the stable piezoelectric nature of orthorhombic phase. (C) 2018 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.