Preparation and electrical properties of SrBi2-x Sm x Nb2O9 lead-free piezoelectric ceramics

Sm-doped strontium bismuth niobate SrBi2-x Sm (x) Nb2O9 (0 a parts per thousand currency sign x a parts per thousand currency sign 0.10) ceramics were prepared by a conventional solid-state reaction method. The X-ray diffraction study showed that the ceramics possess a pure structure and no secondary phase can be detected. The scanning electron microscopy indicates that the grains of all the samples are all well-defined. The dielectric, ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties of the SBSN-x ceramics were investigated and found that the optimum electrical properties can be obtained at x = 0.03, which are as follows: 2P (r) = 14 mu C cm(-2), d (33) = 19 pC/N, T (c) = 435 A degrees C. In addition, after annealing at 400 A degrees C, the piezoelectric constant (d (33)) of this component ceramic sample remains 18 pC/N, so it has good temperature stability for high temperature applications.