Effect of the orthorhombic/rhombohedral volume ratio on the piezoelectric properties of BaCa xTiO3-0.04LiF ceramics.

BaCa xTiO3-0.04LiF (0.010 ≤ x ≤ 0.045) ceramics were prepared by normal sintering at 1100 °C in air. A two-phase coexisted region across orthorhombic and rhombohedral symmetry was designed by refining the components. The detailed phase structure was analyzed quantitatively by the Rietveld refinement. BaCa0.035TiO3-0.04LiF ceramic showed better properties with d33 = 354 pC N−1, kp = 39%, Qm = 314, and TC = 65 °C, in which the relative proportion of rhombohedral symmetry was 74.86%, the grain size was 6.0 µm and the relative density was 91%, indicating that the synergistic effect of the phase structure, fine grain, and relatively high density contributed to the outstanding piezoelectric properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]