Processing and characterization of piezoelectric 0-3 PZT/LCT/PA composites

PZT/LCT/PA (lead zirconate titanate Pb(Zr1-xTix)O-3/Liquid crystalline thermosets/polyamide) composites of 0-3 connectivity were fabricated by hot-pressing. Commercially available PZT powder was calcined at different temperatures for the optimization of the composite properties. The phase transition during calcination of the powder was studied by x-ray diffraction and the particle size by light scattering and scanning electron microscopy. The relative permittivity epsilon(r), piezoelectric charge constant d(33), conductivity sigma and elastic modulus E of the composites were found to increase with increasing ceramic volume fraction phi. The obtained d(33) and g(33) values of this newly developed PZT/LCT/PA composite with 50 vol% PZT using a low poling voltage of 60 kV cm(-1) and poling time of 30 min are 42 pCN(-1) and 65 mV m N-1, respectively, which are high values for this volume fraction in comparison with the other 0-3 composites reported. Good agreement was found between the experimental data of relative permittivity and piezoelectric constants with several theoretical models (Jayasundere, Yamada and Lichtenecker) of 0-3 composites. In order to assess the correlation of the experimental data with the theoretical models, the experimental data obtained from PZT/PA composites were also included.