LAUSR

Abstract The Ti excess La2Ti2 (1+x) O7 (x = 0, 0.005, 0.01, 0.02, 0.05, 0.1) piezoelectric ceramics have been prepared by sol-gel technology and solid state synthesis method. Through refinement analysis, the phase structure of the ceramics varies with Ti content. Most monoclinic phase (∼93%) and a handful of orthogonal phase (∼7%) coexist in La2Ti2 (1+0) O7 ceramics. Pure monoclinic phase La2Ti2O7 with space group P21 appears in La2Ti2 (1+0.005) O7 and La2Ti2 (1+0.01) O7 ceramics. Monoclinic phase La2Ti2 O7 and a certain proportion of tetragonal phase La0.67TiO2.87 coexist in La2Ti2 (1+0.02) O7, La2Ti2 (1+0.05) O7 and Ti2 (1+0.1) O7 ceramics. With the excess of Ti content, the monoclinic phase ratio and distortion angles in a-b projection plane of the ceramics increase first and then decrease, which is consistent with the variation tendency of piezoelectric constant d33. The excellent piezoelectric constant for Ti2 (1+0.01) O7 ceramics is 2.8 pC/N. Impedance analysis shows that the conductive mechanisms of all samples include both grain and grain boundary conductivity at temperature range T ≥ 500 °C. The formation of tetragonal phase La0.67TiO2.87 derives from Ti excess in pure monoclinic phase La2Ti2O7. The existence of tetragonal phase La0.67TiO2.87 can obviously increase the capacitance of ceramics at x ≥ 0.05. All prepared piezoelectric La2Ti2 (1+x) O7 ceramics have highly frequency stability and are candidates for ultrahigh temperature piezoelectric application.