Processing and piezoelectric properties of porous PZT ceramics

5–45% porous lead zirconate titanate (PZT) ceramics were fabricated by adding pore formers such as polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and dextrin and sintering at 1200 °C for 2 h. The optimum heating procedure was decided according to the thermogravimetric analysis of pore formers. The effects of different pore formers and their content on the microstructure and piezoelectric properties were investigated. With an increase in the content of pore formers, the porosity of sintered ceramics increased, which led to reduced dielectric constant (ɛ33) and longitudinal piezoelectric coefficient (d33) as well as enhanced hydrostatic piezoelectric voltage coefficient (gh) and hydrostatic figures of merit (dh gh). The hydrostatic figures of merit (dh gh) of 41% porous PZT were 10 times more than that of 95% dense PZT.