Enhanced mechanical behaviour of lead zirconate titanate piezoelectric composites incorporating zinc oxide nanowhiskers

This paper reports that the lead zirconate titanate (PZT)piezoelectric composites incorporating zinc oxide nanowhiskers(ZnOZnO nanowhisker, composites,mechanical property, piezoelectricsProjectsupported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (GrantNos 50572010, 50742007 and 10672020), the National DefenseFoundation of China (Grant No 401050301), and the Scientific Projectof 863 of China (Grant No 2007AA03Z103).7760, 6220, 6200This paper reports that the lead zirconate titanate (PZT)piezoelectric composites incorporating zinc oxide nanowhiskers(ZnOZnO nanowhisker, composites,mechanical property, piezoelectricsProjectsupported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (GrantNos 50572010, 50742007 and 10672020), the National DefenseFoundation of China (Grant No 401050301), and the Scientific Projectof 863 of China (Grant No 2007AA03Z103).7760, 6220, 6200This paper reports that the lead zirconate titanate (PZT)piezoelectric composites incorporating zinc oxide nanowhiskers(ZnO$_{rm w})$ were prepared by the conventional solid stateprocessing. The whisker-dispersed PZT composites (PZT/ZnO$_{rm w})$presented a significant enhancement in the mechanical propertiessuch as Young's modulus, tensile strength and compressive strength.Especially, the compressive strength increased from 153,MPa for thePZT to 228,MPa for the PZT/ZnO$_{rm w}$ composites. Thereinforcement mechanism in strength of the composites was discussed.The mechanical quality factors of the PZT/ZnO$_{rm w }$ compositesincreased considerably, while the piezoelectric constants andelectromechanical coupling coefficient decreased slightly. Thecomposites with good electrical and excellent mechanical propertiesare promising for further applications.