Perovskite And Piezoelectric Materials

Investigating in the area of perovskite materials and the fabrication of devices for properties in optoelectronics, we have presented a brief outline of perovskite materials. The authors present a fairly comprehensive arrangement of this very active area of research, with its past changes and present position and outlooks. Discussions are presented regarding photocatalysis, fabrication of solar cell devices and their stability, lead-free materials, as well as thermoelectric and piezoelectric applications. In view of the present status of perovskite materials, I am assured that each chapter of the book will be of boundless encouragement for researchers, scientists, and academicians working in this field.

Piezoelectric materials or piezoelectrics are the materials that can produce electric energy when mechanical stress is applied on them. There are two broad categories of piezoelectric materials. First category includes piezoelectric materials that exist in nature and the second category comprises man-made or synthetic materials. Quartz, Rochelle salt, topaz, and tourmaline-group minerals are a few examples of naturally-existing piezoelectrics which are anisotropic dielectrics crystals having a non-centrosymmetric crystal lattice. Piezoelectric materials are widely used in electronic devices such as actuators, sensors, accelerators, ultrasonic motors, transducers, filters, resonators, and micro-electromechanical systems. A perovskite is any material that has a crystal structure that follows the basic chemical formula ABX3. Some of the prominent physical properties of these materials are magnetoresistance, superconductivity and ionic conductivity. They find a variety of applications as photovoltaics, lasers, scintillators and light-emitting diodes. This book outlines the synthesis, properties, and applications of piezoelectric and perovskite materials in detail. It aims to serve as a resource guide for students and researchers alike and contribute to the growth of study on these materials.

Piezoelectric Ceramics focuses on the relationship between piezoelectricity and ferroelectricity as they apply to ceramics, taking into consideration the properties of materials that are being used and possibly be used in the industries. Composed of 12 chapters, the book starts by tracing the history of piezoelectricity and how this affects ceramics. The different measurement techniques are discussed, including dielectric, ferroelectric, and piezoelectric measurements. The book proceeds by discussing Perovskite structure and barium titanate. Covered areas include electric field, piezoelectric properties, particle size effect, and dielectric strength. The properties, compositions, and reactions of various perovskites are discussed. Numerical analyses are presented in this regard. The book also offers interpretations of the experiments conducted. The discussions end with the processes involved in the manufacture and applications of piezoelectric ceramics. Concerns in manufacturing include calcination, grinding, mixing, electroding, firing, and quality control. Piezolectric ceramics are applied in air transducers, instrument transducers, delay line transducers, underwater sound ultrasonic power, and wave filters. The book is important for readers interested in doing research on ceramics.

Ecological restrictions in many parts of the world are demanding the elimination of Pb from all consumer items. At this moment in the piezoelectric ceramics industry, there is no issue of more importance than the transition to lead-free materials. The goal of Lead-Free Piezoelectrics is to provide a comprehensive overview of the fundamentals and developments in the field of lead-free materials and products to leading researchers in the world. The text presents chapters on demonstrated applications of the lead-free materials, which will allow readers to conceptualize the present possibilities and will be useful for both students and professionals conducting research on ferroelectrics, piezoelectrics, smart materials, lead-free materials, and a variety of applications including sensors, actuators, ultrasonic transducers and energy harvesters.

This book is a result of contributions of experts from international scientific community working in different aspects of piezoelectric materials and devices through original and innovative research studies. Through its 7 chapters the reader will have access to works related to the various applications of piezoelectric materials such as piezoelectric stacks in level sensors, pressure sensors, actuators for functionally graded plates, active and passive health monitoring systems, machining processes, nondestructive testing of aeronautical structures and acoustic wave velocity measurements. The text is addressed not only to researchers, but also to professional engineers, students and other experts in a variety of disciplines, both academic and industrial seeking to gain a better understanding of what has been done in the field recently, and what kind of open problems are in this area.

Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop, Predeal, Romania, 24-27 May, 1999

The science and technology in the area of piezoelectric ceramics are extremely progressing, especially the materials research, measurement technique, theory and applications, and furthermore, demanded to fit social technical requests such as environmental problems. While they had been concentrated on piezoelectric ceramics composed of lead-containing compositions, such as lead zirconate titanate (PZT) and lead titanate, at the beginning because of the high piezoelectricity, recently lead water pollution by soluble PZT of our environment must be considered. Therefore, different new compositions of lead-free ceramics in order to replace PZT are needed. Until now, there have been many studies on lead-free ceramics looking for new morphotropic phase boundaries, ceramic microstructure control to realize high ceramic density, including composites and texture developments, and applications to new evaluation techniques to search for high piezoelectricity. The purpose of this book is focused on the latest reports in piezoelectric materials such as lead-free ceramics, single crystals, and thin films from viewpoints of piezoelectric materials, piezoelectric science, and piezoelectric applications.

The book reviews our current knowledge of piezoelectric materials, including their history, developments, properties, process design, and technical applications in such areas as sensors, actuators, power sources, motors, environmental and biomedical domains. Piezoelectric materials will play a crucial role in the development of sustainable energy systems. Keywords: Piezoelectric Materials, Piezo-crystals, Nanogenerators, Phototronics, Piezoelectric Composites, Biomedical Applications, Energy Harvesting, Piezoelectric Thin Films, Piezoelectric Perovskites, Sensor Applications, Piezoelectric Ceramics, Piezoelectric Semiconductors, Piezoelectric Polymers.