3D Printing of Porous PZT-8 Piezoelectric Ceramics via Digital Light Processing

PZT-8 ceramics exhibit outstanding performance in sensor applications owing to their superior piezoelectric properties. Nevertheless, conventional dense PZT-8 ceramics are subject to certain limitations, including high acoustic impedance and relatively low energy conversion efficiency, which restrict their broader application potential. Porous architectures offer a viable solution by enabling controlled porosity, thereby improving acoustic matching and enhancing energy harvesting efficiency. Although 3D printing presents a cost-effective method for fabricating complex ceramic geometries, ultraviolet (UV) light-based photopolymerization techniques have encountered challenges in processing PZT-8 ceramics due to their strong UV absorption characteristics. To address this limitation, this study introduces a novel strategy by incorporating non-absorbent polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) into the formulation of high-performance porous PZT-8 piezoelectric ceramics tailored for digital light processing (DLP)-based 3D printing. Systematic investigations demonstrate that increasing PMMA content (5 wt% to 25 wt%) positively influences curing depth while simultaneously affecting microstructure and electrical properties. The experimental results show d 33 values ranging from 176 to 272 pC/N, k t values from 35.84% to 46.55%, Z values from 18.13 to 22.22 MRayls, FOM values from 8.92 to 10.55 × 10 -12 m 2 /N, and HFOM values from 3.47 to 4.40 × 10 -12 m 2 /N.