SBIR Phase I: High Performance Lead-Free Piezoelectric Ceramics

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will focus on the formation of improved performance, lead-free, piezoelectric ceramics for various high performance sensor and transducer applications. The piezoelectric response of Barium Zirconium Titanate (BZT) ceramic compositions will be enhanced by altering the degree of grain orientation within the ceramic. Seeding with a small percentage of properly oriented anisometric, isostructural particles (template particles) within the bulk BZT ceramic will produce the texture during thermal densification. The piezoelectric response of the textured BZT ceramics would be comparable to current lead-based materials, which would allow for greater utility in the commercial sector due to environmental constraints. Commercially textured, piezoelectric BZT ceramics can be used for various electromechanical transducer and sensor applications, which include the aerospace, marine, biomedical, and ultrasonic industries. The BZT ceramics have the potential of replacing all applications currently using lead zirconate titanate (PZT) ceramics, which are environmentally unacceptable because of the lead content.