Influence of Sb2O3 doping on the sintering and polarization characteristics of PbTiO3 ceramic materials

In this paper, the effect of Sb 2 O 3 doping on the sintering and polarization stability of PbTiO 3 ceramics was investigated. The Sb 2 O 3 -doped PbTiO 3 ceramic materials were prepared via a conventional piezoelectric ceramic processing. The results showed that the as-prepared PbTiO 3 ceramics exhibit a good sintering stability without cracking during sintering because of reducing spontaneous strain stemmed from decrease the tetragonal degree of PbTiO 3 by Sb 2 O 3 doping. Furthermore, the polarization stability of Sb 2 O 3 -doped PbTiO 3 ceramics was considerably enhanced by the relaxation of strain and stress concentration during poling stemmed from the formation of good microstructure with fine grain and high density, and by decreasing the loss stemmed from reduction of oxygen vacancy concentration due to the substitution of Sb 5 + ions for Ti 4 + ions under a polarization condition with temperature of 130–150 ∘ C and applied electric field of 4.5–5.5 kV/mm, and its yield of polarization is achieved ca. 80%.