HU Xiaoping ^1,2, LIU Xiaodong ², ZENG Ming ¹, LI Longzhu ¹, JIANG Xiangping ¹

(1. Department of Material Science and Engineering, Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute, 333001; 2. Departpment of Material Science and Engineering, East China Institute of Technology, Fuzhou 344000)

Abstract: Cu- doped (Na _0.5K_0.5)NbO₃ piezoelectric ceramics were prepared by conventional solid phas e method. The microstructure, piezoelectric and other properties of the s amples were characterized by SEM, XRD and Agilent 4294A impedance analyzer. The results showed that the modification of Cu- doping hardened this material with lower Kp, tanδ, d33 and remarkably higher Qm than pure (Na _0.5K_0.5)NbO₃ material.The comprehensive properties of Cu- doped(Na _0.5K_0.5)NbO₃ ceramics were at their best when CuO content was 1%mol. Furthermore, the grain size of those materials growing with the increasing of Cu-doping was obs erved from the SEM picture,which indicated the addition of CuO could lower the sintering temperature.

Keywords: Cu- doping , sodium potassium niobate , lead- free piezoelectric ceramics