Electrical Properties of Textured (Bi 1/2 K 1/2 )TiO 3 –BaTiO 3 Lead-Free Piezoelectric Ceramics

The electrical properties of (1- x )(Bi 1/2 K 1/2 )TiO 3 – x BaTiO 3 (BKT–BT100 x ) ceramics prepared by an ordinary solid-state reaction and a reactive templated grain growth (RTGG) method using platelike Bi 4 Ti 3 O 12 particles as a template were investigated. The degree of orientation, F , which was determined by the Lotgering method using an X-ray diffraction pattern, achieved ≈83% in the textured BKT–BT10 ceramic. A textured BKT–BT10 ceramic with a homogeneous microstructure was obtained after a long sintering time. The field-induced strains and piezoelectric properties of the BKT–BT10 ceramic were improved by improving grain orientation. In particular, the piezoelectric strain constant, d 33 , and the normalized strain, d 33 * , of the textured BKT–BT10 ceramic in the direction parallel (∥) to the tape stacking direction were 121 pC/N and 211 pm/V (at 80 kV/cm), respectively.