Effects of high energy ball-milling on the sintering behavior and piezoelectric properties of PZT-based ceramics

PZT-PMN-PFN powders were synthesized by the columbite precursor method and then treated with high energy ball-milling (HEBM). The milling process reduced the average particle size from 500 to 100 nm. The sintering behavior and piezoelectric properties of the ceramics with the sintering aid 0.1 wt.% Li2CO3 were explored. Compared with conventional ball-milling, HEBM suppressed the formation of unwanted pyrochlore phases and furthermore resulted in finer grained microstructures with better piezoelectric properties. The planar electromechanical coupling factor (kp) and piezoelectric constant (d33) of a specimen sintered at 850 °C were 0.64 and 511 pC/N, respectively.