Selectively doped piezoelectric ceramics with tunable piezoelectricity via suspension-enclosing projection stereolithography

Abstract Macroscopic piezoelectric properties of piezoelectric materials can be regulated via localized control of microstructures to introduce site-specific electric displacement vectors, but much of the current research is centered around design and manipulation of meso-scale architectural units that are inherently limited in achieving high functionality. In this study, we propose a stereolithography-based additive manufacturing (AM) strategy to spatially tune properties of piezoelectric ceramics at a grain-microstructural scale through selectively incorporating dopants into the ceramic materials for tailoring the grain development. The effects of different doping parameters (including ceramic solid loading, dopant type, and dopant concentration) on microstructures and properties of printed piezoelectric ceramics are investigated. Thermodynamics and kinetics of different doping additives in the dopant-ceramic interaction are experimentally and numerically studied to enable location-specific inhibition of microstructures. Our results indicate that a doping concentration of 2 wt% promoted the homogeneity of local grain growth, resulted in a higher compressive strength and lower porosity, and improved dielectric permittivity and piezoelectric voltage constant in printed piezoelectric ceramics. Moreover, our results suggest that thermochemically stable particles (e.g., ZrO2) with high melting point and low vapor pressure exhibited micro-scale diffusion behaviors, in contrast to millimeter-scale diffusion behaviors of common doping additives (e.g., ZnO), which are more suitable as a locally incorporated dopant for achieving location-specific property tuning. Testcases of selectively doped piezoelectric components in predefined patterns highlight the potential of the proposed approach in creating novel piezoelectric materials with programmable location-specific properties.