High throughput experimentation for the development of new piezoelectric ceramics

Piezoelectric ceramics based on the perovskite Pb(Zr,Ti)O-3 (PZT) system are widely used as sensors and actuators. The toxicity of lead has motivated research in the field of alternative environmentally friendly lead-free materials. Lead-free piezoelectric ceramics are numerous and in comparison to PZT poorly investigated. The performance of PZT cannot yet be achieved by any lead-free material. Thus High Throughput Experimentation (HTE) shall be applied to discover new lead-free piezoelectric ceramics. In the present study a parallel solid state synthesis method was established for bulk ceramics. Libraries consisting of chemically diverse oxides are produced via the mixed-oxide route. Subsequently, classical piezoelectric parameters such as epsilon, d(33) and Curie temperature are screened. The high throughput route, which allows the synthesis and characterisation of over one hundred samples per week, has to be validated with PZT samples. The morphotropic phase boundary was clearly identified and dielectric measurement shows excellent results. The method may be extended to lead-free materials.