Piezoelectric characteristics of low temperature sintering Pb(Ni1/3Nb2/3)O3–Pb(Zr1/2Ti1/2)O3 ceramics as a function of Pb(Mn1/3Sb2/3)O3 substitution

In this study, in order to develop the composition ceramics for multilayer ceramic for ultrasonic nozzle and ultrasonic actuator application, Pb(Mn1/3Sb2/3)O3 (abbreviated as PMS) substituted Pb(Ni1/3Nb2/3)O3–Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 (abbreviated as PNN-PZT) ceramics were fabricated using two-stage calcinations method and Li2CO3, Na2CO3 and ZnO as sintering aids, and their piezoelectric and dielectric characteristics were investigated. With the increase of the amount of PMS substitution, electromechanical coupling factor (kp), and mechanical quality factor (Qm) of specimens showed the maximum value at 3 mol% substituted specimen while dielectric constant (ɛr) was decreased. At the sintering temperature of 900 °C, the density, ɛr, kp, and Qm of 3 mol% PMS substituted PNN-PZT composition ceramics showed the optimal values of 7.92 [g/cm3], 959, 0.584, and 1003, respectively, for low loss multilayer piezoelectric actuator application.