Fabrication and investigation of BCZT/epoxy lead-free piezoelectric composites with spiral structure

A novel BCZT ceramic/epoxy resin composite with spiral structure was fabricated by a roll forming-curling method, the composite was consist of spiral ceramic rings and epoxy resin. The structures of the composites and the effect of the volume fraction of ceramics were researched. The results show that the piezoelectric, dielectric and electromechanical coupling properties can be controlled by adjusting the volume fraction of the ceramics. A high electromechanical coupling property (kt = 47.6%) and the low acoustic impedance (Z = 8 Mrayls) were obtained at 30% volume fraction of ceramic phase. Composite with a 20% volume fraction was found to possess the figure of merit (FOM) maximum value of 56.9 x 10(-12) m(2)/N. Meanwhile, the Curie temperature was enhanced by the epoxy resin, and the stability of properties versus temperature was also improved. Crown Copyright (C) 2015 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.