Chemical modification of lead zirconate titanate piezoceramics through cold-sintering process

This study presents a facile strategy to chemically modify the PZT through the cold-sintering process. The presence of lead oxide phases in the XRD patterns of samples cold-sintered at 290 °C confirms the dissolution of Pb ions from the surface of PZT particles. Post-annealing the samples at 900 °C resulted in a phase pure material with a perovskite structure, wherein the Ba ions had diffused into the lattice of PZT. The post-annealed samples had a multi-faceted grain with equilibrated triple points and a relative density of ~93%. The electromechanical characterization showed that the d33 of the samples increased with increasing content of Ba in the PZT, reaching a value of 201 ± 80 pm/V. The post-annealed samples displayed ferroelectric switching current behaviors with saturated polarisation loops. The experimental findings reported in this study highlight the potential of the cold-sintering process for chemical modification of lead zirconate titanate electroceramics.