The mechanical and electric properties of infiltrated PZT/polymer composites

Lead zirconate titanate (PZT) ceramics/polymer composites were fabricated by infiltrating polymer into porous PZT ceramics. The electrical and mechanical properties as a function of ceramic volume fraction were studied in this paper. With a decrease in the ceramic volume fraction, the dielectric constant of composite decreased while the hydrostatic figure of merit increased. For the same ceramic volume fraction, the fracture strength of the PZT/polymer composite was much higher than that of porous PZT, meanwhile the piezoelectric characteristics of composite were close to that of porous PZT. The hydrostatic figure of merit of the composite with a ceramic volume fraction of 68% was over 5000 x 10(-15) m(2)/N. This value is much higher than reported value of the composite with the same ceramic volume fraction. This kind of composite could be a promising candidate for sensors and actuators. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l. All rights reserved.