Highly temperature-stable piezoelectric properties of 0.96(K0.48Na0.52)(Nb0.96Sb0.04)O3–0.03BaZrO3–0.01(Bi0.50Na0.50)ZrO3 ceramic in common usage temperature range

Abstract Piezoelectric temperature stability is often a critical issue for the (K,Na)NbO 3 -based lead-free ceramics when used in some technical products like filters and ultrasonic devices. In this letter, we report the excellent piezoelectric performance of a dense 0.96(K 0.48 Na 0.52 )(Nb 0.96 Sb 0.04 )O 3 –0.03BaZrO 3 –0.01(Bi 0.50 Na 0.50 )ZrO 3 ceramic, which shows high piezoelectric coefficient d 33  = 300 pC/N and large electromechanical coupling factors k p  = 0.56, k 33  = 0.69 at room temperature and weak piezoelectric temperature dependences in the common usage temperature range between −30 °C and 100 °C. It seems that the obtained excellent piezoelectric performance associates closely with the diffused R - O phase transition and the stable piezoelectric nature of orthorhombic phase.