Preperation of Lead-Free Potassium Sodium Niobate Based Piezoelectrics and Their Electromechanical Characteristics

In this study, %7 Li modified and 0.67% copper oxide added potassium sodium niobate (KNN) ceramics were investigated. Copper oxide was used as a sintering aid. The ceramics were prepared with conventional solid state calcination technique. All samples were crystallized in pure perovskite phase with no additional peak. The density of the samples increased with copper addition and lithium modification. The Curie temperature of KNN ceramics was found to shift to lower temperatures by CuO addition. The Curie temperature was measured as 414 degrees C and 504 degrees C for copper oxide added and lithium modified KNN samples, respectively. The maximum strain of copper oxide added sample was 0.12%, whereas Li modified KL ceramics yielded up to 0.10%.