Enhanced piezoelectricity in Pb(Zr0.48Ti0.52)O3-Pb(Mn1/3Sb2/3)O3-Pb(Mg1/3Ta2/3)O3 ceramics through the synergistic effect of defect engineering and lattice distortion

With the increasing demand for industrial applications, it has become crucial to develop special high-power devices that can achieve both high piezoelectric performance and large mechanical quality factor. In this work, we prepared quaternary piezoelectric ceramics, namely (0.95-x)Pb(Zr0.48Ti0.52)O3-xPb(Mg1/3Ta2/3)O30.05Pb(Mn1/3Sb2/3)O3 (PZT-PMT-PMS), using a traditional solid-state route. These ceramics exhibit an excellent mechanical quality factor and low loss. By adding an appropriate amount of PMT (x = 0.09), the Mg2+ ions were homogeneously incorporated into the crystal lattice, resulting in a reduction in the content of the tetragonal phase. The formation of (Mg & PRIME;Zr,Ti - V..O) defect dipoles has been studied through Rietveld refinement, which indicates that defect dipoles can hinder domain-wall motion, strengthen the pinning effect, and result in a "harder" performance. Moreover, the high asymmetry caused by large lattice distortion, regulates the piezoelectric properties. The sample shows the optimal performance when the PMT content is 0.09, with d33 = 430 pC/N, Qm = 1740, TC = 258 degrees C, & epsilon;r = 1740, tan & delta; = 0.16 %, Pr = 44.5 & mu;C/cm2, and kp = 0.569.