Processing and Properties of Porous PZT Ceramics from Particle-Stabilized Foams via Gel Casting

In the present work, porous lead zirconate titanate (PZT) ceramics with porosity ranging from 27.8% to 72.4% were fabricated by the gel-casting process of particle-stabilized wet foams with the initial solid loading of 10-30vol%. The phase, the microstructure, the dielectric property, and the piezoelectric property were characterized. The relative permittivity (epsilon r) and longitudinal piezoelectric strain coefficient (d33) of the investigated samples decreased with increasing porosity. Both the values of hydrostatic strain coefficient (dh) and hydrostatic voltage coefficient (gh) increased moderately with the increase in porosity, which was beneficial for enhancing the value of hydrostatic figure of merit (HFOM). As a result, the prepared sample possessed a maximal HFOM value of 15236x10-15Pa-1 with the porosity of 72.4%. The acoustic impedance (Z) of specimens decreased linearly with increasing porosity, and had the lowest value of 1.95 MRayls, making them promising candidates for application of medical ultrasonic imaging or underwater sonar detectors.