Achieving ultrahigh electromechanical properties with high TC in PNN-PZT textured ceramics

<001> textured Pb(Ni 1/3 Nb 2/3 )O 3 -PbZrO 3 -PbTiO 3 (PNN-PZT) ceramics were prepared by templated grain growth (TGG) technique using 0.36PNN- x PZ-(0.64- x )PT ( x  = 0.23, 0.25 and 0.27) powder matrix. Optimum template content was derived to achieve the best electromechanical properties of textured ceramics. The piezoelectric coefficient d 33  = 1165 pC/N, Curie temperature T C  = 197 °C, longitudinal mode electromechanical coupling factor k 33  = 0.86 and a very large effective piezoelectric strain coefficient d 33 * = 2041 pm/V were simultaneously achieved at the morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) composition ( x  = 0.25) with 3 vol.% BaTiO 3 (BT) templates. Domain structures of textured ceramics were analyzed in detail to reveal the origin of these high piezoelectric and electromechanical properties.