Abstract
The most widely used material for active transducer applications is the ferroelectric ceramic PZT. Composites made of ferroelectric ceramics combined with polymers have several advantages over pure ceramics. Diphasic composites of PZT (and La/Ca modified PZT) combined with various polymers such as PVDF, PVC, PVA, epoxy resin and co-polymers have been widely studied and reported in the literature.
In this paper we present the preparation and study of PZT-PVDF composites of 0-3 connectivity. The composites are prepared by two methods, namely (i) the solvent-cast method and (ii) the hot-press method. The piezoelectric strain coefficient (d33) is studied as a function of volume fraction of PZT in PVDF. The dielectric constant (k) is measured as a function of temperature and the piezoelectric voltage coefficient (g33) of the composite is determined.
The experimental values of the dielectric constant, d33 and g33 of the composites are compared with the earlier reported values and the theoretical values proposed by Furukawa et al (Furukawa T, Ishida K and Fukada E 1979 J. Appl. Sci. 50 4904) and Bhimasankaram et al (Bhimasankaram T, Suryanarayana S V and Prasad G P 1998 Curr. Sci. 4 967).
The composite with 0.5 PZT volume fraction prepared by the hot-press method is found to possess a reasonably high d33 value and exhibit good flexibility and stability with time.
Export citation and abstract BibTeX RIS