Fabrication and Piezoelectric Properties of Grain-Oriented (Bi 1/2 K 1/2 )TiO 3 –BaTiO 3 Ceramics

The piezoelectric properties of (1 - x )(Bi 1/2 K 1/2 )TiO 3 – x BaTiO 3 ( x = 0.1) [abbreviated as BKT–BT10] ceramics prepared by ordinary solid-state reaction and reactive templated grain growth (RTGG) using platelike Bi 4 Ti 3 O 12 particles as a template were investigated. All samples showed a single-phase perovskite structure, and relative densities compared with theoretical densities were all higher than 95%. The degree of orientation F was determined by the Lotgering method using an X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern. The F values of textured BKT–BT10 ceramics were relatively low at ∼35%. However, field-induced strains and piezoelectric properties of BKT–BT10 ceramics were improved by grain orientation. In particular, the piezoelectric strain constant d 33 and the strain of textured BKT–BT10 ceramics in a direction parallel (∥) to the tape stacking direction were 84.5 pC/N and 168 pm/V (at 80 kV/cm), respectively.