Fabrication and piezoelectricity of 0–3 cement based composite with nano-PZT powder

Lead zirconate titanate (Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3) (PZT) nano-powder with a perovskite structure was fabricated using sol–gel process. The average crystallite diameter of the PZT powder is calculated to be 23.6 nm and the average agglomerate size is about 200 nm. The 0–3 cement based nano-PZT composites were obtained by pressing the mixture of white cement and the nano-PZT powders under a high pressure followed by steam curing. The properties of the nano-PZT/cement piezoelectric composites have been measured and compared to the PZT/cement composites incorporated with ground coarse PZT particles. The enhanced piezoelectricity of the nano-PZT/cement composites can be attributed to the good connectivity between the nano-PZT particles among the cement matrix.