Effect of MnCO3 on the electrical properties of PZT-based piezoceramics sintered at low temperature

In this work, the piezoelectric ceramics Pb_0.95Ba_0.01Sr_0.04(Zr_0.53Ti_0.47)O₃-1wt.%LiBiO₂-0.06 wt.%CuO-xwt.%MnCO₃ (PBSZT-LBCu-xwt.%MnCO₃) were prepared by the conventional solid-state sintering method. The effect of MnCO₃ on addition phase structure, microstructure, ferroelectric performances, piezoelectric and dielectric properties were systematically studied. It was found that the addition of MnCO₃ can highly increase the mechanical quality factor (Q_m) from a small value ( < 80). High Q_m of ∼400–560, moderate piezoelectric constant (d₃₃∼250–270 pC/N), and high converse piezoelectric constant (d₃₃*∼360–510 pm/V) were realized in compositions from x = 0.10 to x = 0.30. Meanwhile, P_r and ε_r also maintain relatively high values. Moreover, the addition of oxides, i.e., LiBiO₂ and CuO, can significantly reduce the sintering temperature of ceramics, and all specimens were sintered at a low temperature around 900 °C.