Fabrication and characterization of low temperature sintered hard piezoelectric ceramics for multilayer piezoelectric energy harvesters

Abstract

In this study, 0.65Pb(Zr0.465Ti0.545)O3-0.35Pb(Zn1/6Ni1/6Nb2/3)O3, doped with 3.0 mol% MnCO3 and 1.0 mol% CuO (M3.0C1.0PZT-PZNN), was investigated as a hard piezoelectric ceramic for multilayer ceramic piezoelectric energy harvesters (MLC-PEHs). These PEHs showed a high output performance that was partly ascribed to the hardening effect of MnCO3. In contrast, a single-layer ceramic piezoelectric energy harvester (SLC-PEH), containing M3.0C1.0PZT-PZNN, exhibited a higher output power density than that containing an analogous non-Mn-doped soft piezoelectric ceramic (C1.0PZT-PZNN), especially at high accelerations. In the fabricated MLC-PEH, containing an M3.0C1.0PZT-PZNN-based five-layer ceramic and a pure Ag inner electrode, no interdiffusion was observed between the electrode and the ceramic layers, and the corresponding interface was clear and smooth. This MLC-PEH, which exhibited a high output power density and a relatively large current, was used to charge a 0.22 F capacitor at its resonance frequency and an acceleration of 1.5 G, achieving a charging rate higher than that of the SLC-PEH. © 2021 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l.