(Ba,Ca)(Ti,Zr)O3-CeO2 translucent and opaque ceramics - Optical and electromechanical characteristics

This work demonstrates promising approaches to synthesize multifunctional-translucent BCZT-CeO2 ceramic for electro-mechanical/optical conversion. Nearly fully dense BCZT-CeO2 electroceramics were fabricated by spark plasma sintering (SPS) showing high dielectric permittivity of 5875 and low dielectric loss of 2.1%. Altogether, an extraordinary optical transmittance was attained as -40% at 750 nm wavelength and -46% in the infrared region. The fine grains restricted piezoelectric constant, d33, to a moderate value of -145 pC/N but with an enhanced Curie temperature, TC -135 degrees C. Post rapid pressure-less sintering on SPSed samples led to a fast grain growth within an extra hour of sintering and a major improvement of piezoelectric properties (d33 = 532 pC/N and kp = 43%) was achieved. A substantial amount of energy can be saved by both approaches owing to rapid heating/cooling rates and short dwell-times, at least when compared to conventional sintering. This success highlights ingenious avenues for further studies on BCZT-CeO2 electro-optical ceramics.

Automated summary

This work presents a promising approach to synthesize multifunctional-translucent BCZT-CeO2 ceramic for electro-mechanical/optical conversion. The ceramics achieved high dielectric permittivity, low dielectric loss, and extraordinary optical transmittance. Post-processing method further improved the piezoelectric properties of the ceramics.