Structure and ferroelectric properties of Bi(Zn(1/2)Ti(1/2))O3-(Bi(1/2)K(1/2))TiO3 perovskite solid solutions.

Lead-free piezoelectric ceramics based on chiBi(Zn(1/2)Ti(1/2))O3-(1-chi)(Bi(1/2)K(1/2))TiO3 were obtained via solid state processing techniques. A single perovskite phase with tetragonal symmetry was obtained for Bi(Zn(1/2)Ti(1/2))O3 (BZT) substitutions up to 20 mol%. The maximum density was 97.1% at the composition of chi = 0.1. The dielectric measurement indicated that the transition temperature decreased linearly with increasing BZT content. The P-E loops revealed an increase in remanent polarization (P(r)) with the addition of BZT. The maximum planar coupling coefficient, kappa(p), for the chi = 0.1 composition was 21.6 and the piezoelectric coefficient, d33, for chi = 0, chi = 0.05, and chi = 0.1 was 108, 185, and 235 pm/V, respectively. Overall, the dielectric and piezoelectric properties showed significant improvement when BZT was added.