Simultaneous regulation of printability and piezoelectric performance via Nb2O5 doping in vat-photopolymerized PZT piezoceramics

Multifunctional Nb 2 O 5 doping enhances both printability and performance of VPP-fabricated PZT ceramics. • Nb 2 O 5 reduces lateral overexposure, improving printing accuracy and surface quality. • Sintering densification and grain refinement are achieved via Nb 2 O 5 as a sintering aid. • High piezoelectric response ( d 33  ≈ 510 pC/N) and ferroelectric properties are obtained. • Functional lattice structures demonstrate stable underwater acousto-electric conversion. Inorganic precursors such as PbCO 3 can address the forming difficulties of traditional lead zirconate titanate (PZT) powders in vat photopolymerization (VPP) additive manufacturing. However, these precursors still exhibit limitations such as limited printing accuracy, poor densification, and constrained electrical properties, which have greatly restricted the application prospects of VPP-fabricated PZT ceramics. In this work, using ZrO 2 , TiO 2 , and PbCO 3 powders as raw materials, we propose a novel multifunctional Nb 2 O 5 doping strategy to fabricate complex-structured PZT ceramics via VPP with optimal dimensional precision. After doping, Nb 2 O 5 acts as an “embedded light absorber” that suppresses lateral overexposure, reducing the light-spot half-width w 0 by approximately 20% and green-body roughness from R a  = 22.1 μm to 18.5 μm. Moreover, Nb 2 O 5 serves as a sintering aid and a property modifier, refining grains to 1–1.5 μm and increasing density from 7.40 to 7.62 g·cm −3 . It also reduces oxygen vacancies and induces lattice distortion (coexisting rhombohedral and tetragonal phases) and domain refinement. As a result, the ferroelectric, piezoelectric, and dielectric relaxation behaviors improve significantly (5 mol%: P r  = 33.9 μC·cm −2 , d 33  = 510.2 pC·N −1 , and γ   ≈  2), producing high-precision lattice structures with a minimum strut diameter of 450 μm. The device delivered a maximum output voltage of 1.3 V at a 4 mm displacement and exhibited stable underwater acousto-electric conversion from 10 to 100 kHz. The proposed multifunctional doping concept overcomes the traditional trade-off between printability and piezoelectric properties in photocurable ceramics, providing a generalizable materials design framework to accelerate the development of advanced additive manufacturing for functional inorganic materials.