Mechanochemically-assisted synthesis of lead-free piezoelectric cazro3-modified (K,na,li)(nb,ta)o3-solid solution

Abstract

Lead-free piezoelectric 0.95(Na0.49 K0.49 Li0.02 )(Nb0.8 Ta0.2 )O3 –0.05CaZrO3 with 2 wt % MnO2 addition was prepared using mechanochemically-assisted solid-state synthesis. Upon mechanochemical activation of the mixture of reagents partial amorphization occurs which contributes to a significantly lower temperature of completion of the solid-state reaction, ~600◦ C as opposed to ~700◦ C for the conventional solid-state synthesis as determined by thermal analysis. The ceramic specimens prepared by the mechanochemically-assisted route exhibit improved compositional homogeneity and slightly enhanced piezoelectric properties, achieved in a considerably shorter processing time compared to the conventional solid-state synthesis route, which was studied as a reference.