Development and characterization of high Curie-Temperature (TC) and high-performance Piezo-/ferroelectric materials of complex Perovskite structure

Novel piezo-/ferroelectric materials are being developed to use in a variety of applications including energy harvesting devices, electromechanical sensors and actuators, ultra-sound detectors, etc. One of the main challenges in this area is developing piezo-/ferroelectric materials with high Curie temperatures (TC) enabling them to maintain their performance in elevated temperatures. Bismuth-containing systems, particularly BiScO3-PbTiO3 (BS-PT), show promise but face limitations like high conductivity at elevated temperatures and narrow morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) region. Also, it is difficult to grow Bi-based complex perovskite single crystals. This study focuses on developing high-temperature and high-performance piezo- /ferroelectric perovskite materials and establishing structure-property relationships in the developed perovskite material systems for potential energy storage and transduction applications. Under this objective, a new bismuth-based (1-x)Pb(Sc1/2Nb1/2)O3-xBiScO3 solid solution is developed with moderate piezoelectric performance suitable for energy storage applications. Also, a novel ternary solid solution combining Pb(Sc1/2Nb1/2)O3 and BiScO3-PbTiO3 has been successfully synthesized which exhibits extended morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) region and higher TC comparing to well-known Pb(Zr,Ti)O3. Finally, single crystals of the 0.1PSN-0.315BS-0.585PT were successfully grown with a high TC of 410 °C and a promising piezo-/ferroelectric performance (EC = 67 kV/cm and d33 = 478 pC/N). This work demonstrates the feasibility of developing high-temperature piezo-/ferroelectric materials, with improved performance and enhanced relaxor behavior, making them ideal for a range of applications, in particular at high temperatures.