Matrix influence on the piezoelectric properties of piezoelectric ceramic/polymer composite exhibiting particle alignment

This study was addressed to the influence of an electric field strength applied at fabrication process and matrix properties, such as the dielectric constant and the Young's modulus, on pseudo-1-3 piezoelectric ceramic/polymer composite in order to further enhance the piezoelectricity of that. The pseudo-1-3 piezoelectric ceramic/polymer composite consists of linearly ordered piezoelectric ceramic particles in polymer material. Silicone gel, silicone rubber, urethane rubber, and poly-methyl-methacrylate, which exhibit different dielectric constants and Young's modulus, were used as matrices to evaluate the matrix influence. The piezoelectricity of the pseudo-1-3 piezoelectric ceramic/polymer composite was evaluated using the piezoelectric strain constant d(33). The d(33) is one of the indices of the piezoelectric properties for piezoelectric materials. As a result, it was confirmed that d(33) of the pseudo-1-3 piezoelectric ceramic/polymer composite increased with the increase of the electric filed strength applied at fabrication process, though, it reached a constant value at a certain strength value. Further it was confirmed that dielectric constant of the matrix had a small influence on d(33) of the pseudo-1-3 piezoelectric ceramic/polymer composite, however, in case of matrix of lower Young's modulus, d(33) was increase. (C) 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.