3-3 composites with different ceramic phases-lead titanate zirconate and lead titanate

Composites consisting of ceramics and polymer show improved performance when working with low acoustic impedance materials, compared to conventional dense piezoceramics. This study concentrates on composites with a 3-3 structure, made of hard epoxy and a ceramic phase either of lead zirconate titanate (LZT), modified lead titanate (mLT) or pure lead titanate (LT). Manufacturing methods are briefly discussed. Three different materials are compared by their electrical properties and by their performance in a simple transducer setup (air backing, no matching layers) operating in water