Fabrication and Piezoelectric Properties of Grain-Oriented (Bi1/2K1/2)TiO3-BaTiO3 Ceramics

The piezoelectric properties of (1-x)(Bi1/2K1/2)TiO3-BaTiO3 (x = 0.1) [abbreviated as BKT-BT10] ceramics prepared by ordinary solid-state reaction and reactive templated grain growth (RTGG) using platelike Bi4Ti3O12 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 similar to 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.