Design of lead-free BCZT-based ceramics with enhanced piezoelectric energy harvesting performances.

The design of lead-free ceramics for piezoelectric energy harvesting applications has become a hot topic. Among these materials, Ba 0.85 Ca 0.15 Zr 0.10 Ti 0.90 O 3 (BCZT) and BaTi 0.89 Sn 0.11 O 3 (BTSn) are considered as potential candidates due to their enhanced piezoelectric properties. Here, the structural, electrical, piezoelectric and piezoelectric energy harvesting properties of the (1 - x )Ba 0.85 Ca 0.15 Zr 0.10 Ti 0.90 O 3 - x BaTi 0.89 Sn 0.11 O 3 ( x BTSn, x = 0.2, 0.4 and 0.6) system are investigated. A systematic study of the structural properties of the x BTSn samples was carried out using X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and dielectric measurements. The addition of BTSn allows a successive phase transition, which broadens the application temperature range. The enhanced piezoelectric energy harvesting properties were found in the 0.2BTSn ceramic, where the large-signal and small-signal piezoelectric coefficients, piezoelectric voltage and the piezoelectric figure of merit reached 245 pm V -1 , 228 pC N -1 , 16.2 mV m N -1 and 3.7 pm 2 N -1 , respectively. Consequently, the combination of BCZT and BTSn could provide suitable lead-free materials with enhanced piezoelectric energy harvesting performances.