Synthesis and characterization of undoped and Samarium Gadolinium doped Lead Zirconate Titanate piezoelectric via solid state reaction

Mechanical, dielectric and piezoelectric properties of lead zirconate titanate ceramic Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 doped with Sm2O3 and Gd2O3 with a generic chemical formula Pb0.98Sm0.02(Zr0.52-xTi0.48)GdxO3 (x = 0.01, 0.02, 0.03, 0.05, 0.10) near morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) have been prepared using solid state reaction method. The effect of Sm and Gd doping were been analyzed. The raw materials of PbO, Sm2O3, ZrO2, TiO2 and Gd2O3 were mixed for 24 hours using low energy milling machine. The powder mixture was calcined at 800 ºC for 2 hours and pressed into pellets. The pellets were sintered for 1100 ºC for 1 hour. The crystallite size and phase of undoped and doped PZT analyzed using XRD measurement. The microstructure properties of the compound were analyzed through SEM techniques. The density of this study was used Archimedes Principle where the composition of Gd at 0.01 mol% had the denser density. For dielectric constant the same 0.01 mol% of Gd has the highest relative permittivity. As for piezoelectric coefficient measurement, the highest d33 value was 120 that achieved by 0.02 mol% of Gd.