Effect of excess PbO on the structure and piezoelectric properties of Bi-modified PbTiO3 ceramics

Effect of 1–4 wt.% excess PbO, added to the calcined powder, on the structure and dielectric and piezoelectric properties of Bi-doped lead titanate ceramics was investigated. The ceramics containing 4, 6 and 8 mol% Bi were prepared by the usual ceramic technique, using high purity oxides. The calcined powder of each composition was next intimately mixed with 1, 2, 3 and 4 wt.% PbO and then sintered at 1200–1300 °C for 3 h. The dielectric piezoelectric and electromechanical properties were determined as a function of excess PbO. Addition of PbO up to 2 wt.% was found to improve the densification, by the presence of the PbO liquid phase during sintering. For all Bi doping levels, the dielectric constant and the thickness coupling factor reach maxima (representing an increase of 2.5–8% for dielectric constant and 7–8% for thickness coupling factor) at about 2 wt.% PbO addition. The planar coupling factor is very low, less than 0.01, regardless the PbO content. The disipation factor slightly decreases with increasing PbO content and the mechanical quality factor of the thickness mode was about 300. The experimental results were discussed in terms of the mechanisms of densification in the presence of the liquid phase and of lead vacancy concentration.