Microstructures and Piezoelectric Properties of Textured NKLNT Ceramics

(Na0.51K0.47Li0.02)(Nb0.8Ta0.2)O3 (NKLNT), lead-free piezoelectric ceramics were reported to have excellent properties by controlling the microstructure. In addition, it was reported that the piezoelectric properties of... [ view full abstract ]

(Na_0.51K_0.47Li_0.02)(Nb_0.8Ta_0.2)O₃ (NKLNT), lead-free piezoelectric ceramics were reported to have excellent properties by controlling the microstructure. In addition, it was reported that the piezoelectric properties of textured NKN-based ceramics, manufactured via reactive template grain growth (RTGG), approached those of PZT ceramics closely. In this study, textured NKLNT ceramics were manufactured from NaNbO₃ (NN) templates of various sizes via RTGG. The effect of NN template size was investigated in regard to the degree of orientation and the piezoelectric properties of NKLNT. The planar templates of various sizes were prepared via the topochemical microcrystal conversion method. The piezoelectric properties of textured NKLNT were even better than those of non-oriented ones. Although textured NKLNT changed its properties according to the size of NN template, which was related to a change in the degree of orientation, the non-oriented NKLNT did not. The results showed the influence of the size of template on the degree of orientation and the piezoelectric properties of textured NKLNT. Thus, additional attention should be paid to the size and the morphology of the template, not only to the composition of the doping system, employed in textured NKN-based ceramics.