Abstract
Piezoelectric materials directly convert between electrical and mechanical energies. They are used as transducers in applications such as nano-positioning and ultrasound imaging. Improving the properties of these devices requires piezoelectric materials capable of delivering a large longitudinal strain on the application of an electric field. A large longitudinal strain of more than 1% is generally anticipated in suitably oriented single crystals of specific compositions of ferroelectric materials1. Polycrystalline piezoceramics typically show a longitudinal strain of approximately 0.2–0.4%. We demonstrate that when the thickness of a polycrystalline piezoceramic is reduced to such an extent that a large fraction of the grains are in the triaxial–biaxal crossover regime, the ___domain-switching fraction increases considerably. If the positive and the negative surfaces of the piezoceramic respond to electric fields symmetrically, as in the classical PbZrxTixO3, a longitudinal strain of approximately 1% can be achieved in a 0.2 mm disc of the morphotropic phase boundary composition (a 300% increase from a thickness of 0.7 mm). We show that oxygen vacancies in piezoceramics cause asymmetrical switching at the positive and negative surfaces, which causes thin piezoceramics to bend. We expect these findings will encourage further engineering of these mechanisms across different piezoelectric material systems, opening new applications for electromechanical actuation.
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The authors declare that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the paper and its Supplementary Information files.
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Acknowledgements
R.R. and G.D.A. acknowledge the Science and Engineering Research Board for financial assistance (Grant No. CRG/2021/000134). R.R. gratefully acknowledges D. Damjanovic for fruitful discussion. D.N.S. gratefully acknowledges the Dr. D. S. Kothari fellowship of the University Grant Commission (UGC), India (Award No. F.4-2/2006 (BSR)/PH/20–21/0100). M. gratefully acknowledges UGC, India for awarding the JRF and SRF fellowships (Ref No. 201610120431). The European Synchrotron Radiation Facility is acknowledged for provision of beamtime under proposal number MA-6069 (https://doi.org/10.15151/ESRF-ES-1465100316).
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Contributions
G.D.A. and R.R. led the overall work, planned and executed most of the experiments (in situ laboratory XRD under a field, XPS, S–E and P–E measurements), and analysed the data. L.G. and J.D. imaged the disc-bending. J.D. and H.L. performed the FEM modelling. R.R., G.D.A. and J.D. discussed the overall results and participated in writing the manuscript. G.D.A., A.A., G.J.M., M., R.P.S., D.N.S. and G.A.T. prepared piezoelectric specimens with different compositions and measured their physical properties. S.C. and J.D. planned the depth scanning measurements using high-energy synchrotron X-rays, and S.C., J. D. and R.R. conducted the experiments at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility.
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J.D. is a director of Citrus Pty Ltd, which produces the system for in situ diffraction and imaging measurements under an applied electric field.
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Nature thanks Nan Zhang and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work. Peer reviewer reports are available.
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Supplementary information
Supplementary Information
Supplementary Table 1 and Figs. 1–26.
Supplementary Video 1
Bending video of BaTiO3.
Supplementary Video 2
Bending of BFPT-La.
Supplementary Video 3
Bending of KNSN3.
Supplementary Video 4
Bending of NBT-10BT.
Supplementary Video 5
Bending of PZT52VA.
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Das Adhikary, G., Adukkadan, A., Muleta, G.J. et al. Longitudinal strain enhancement and bending deformations in piezoceramics. Nature 637, 333–338 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-08292-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-08292-1
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