Dielectric and piezoelectric properties of PMN-PT ceramics doped with strontium

Motivated by the need of piezoelectric ceramics with enhanced piezoelectric properties, we investigated the effects of Sr addition on the structural, dielectric and piezoelectric properties of PMN-PT ceramics. The synthesis of (1-x)[(Pb-1/3,Sry)(Mg3/3Nb2/3)O31-x(Pb(1-y)SryTiO(3)) (PsMN PsT) (y: 0 -0.10, x: 0.35- 0.40) ceramics was carried out by the colloidal coating method to distribute Sr uniformly in PMN and PT respectively. When x=0.35, it was found that y=0.02 gave the optimal piezoelectric properties. Furthermore, by keeping y=0.02 and varying x, it was found that x= 0.37 gave even better piezoelectric properties with the optimal piezoelectric strain coefficient d(33) (630 pC/N), piezoelectric coupling factor k(p) (0.52), dielectric constant epsilon(r) (4000), and Curie temperature T-c (210 degrees C), exhibiting great potential for actuator and sensor applications.