A piezoelectric ceramic electronic component that includes a piezoelectric ceramic body including at least one piezoelectric ceramic layer; and a plurality of electrodes on a surface or inside of the piezoelectric ceramic body and arranged so that the at least one piezoelectric ceramic layer is sandwiched between adjacent electrodes of the plurality of electrodes. The at least one piezoelectric ceramic layer is a ceramic sintered body containing a potassium sodium niobate-based compound and Mn. When the at least one piezoelectric ceramic layer sandwiched between the adjacent electrodes is divided into three equal parts in a thickness direction to sequentially define a first region, a second region, and a third region between the adjacent electrodes, a second Mn concentration in the second region is higher than a first Mn concentration in the first region and a third Mn concentration in the third region.

The present disclosure relates to a method for obtaining lead-free piezoelectric materials, including: Step S100, adjusting the T/O phase boundary of a first lead-free piezoelectric material: for the first lead-free piezoelectric material, adjusting the T/O phase boundary between the tetragonal phase T and the orthorhombic phase O to be near the room temperature by doping; Step S200, further adjusting the C/T phase boundary and the O/R phase boundary: further adjusting the C/T phase boundary between the cubic paraelectric phase C and the tetragonal phase T, and the O/R phase boundary between the orthorhombic phase O and the rhombohedral phase R by doping, so as to enable the C/T phase boundary and the O/R phase boundary to approach the T/O phase boundary; and Step S300, obtaining second lead-free piezoelectric materials: obtaining multiple second lead-free piezoelectric materials with different piezoelectric constants d.sub.33 and different Curie temperatures T.sub.C in the process.

Provided is a piezoelectric material filler including alkali niobate compound particles having a ratio (K/(Na+K)) of the number of moles of potassium to the total number of moles of sodium and potassium of 0.460 to 0.495 in terms of atoms and a ratio ((Li+Na+K)/Nb) of the total number of moles of alkali metal elements to the number of moles of niobium of 0.995 to 1.005 in terms of atoms. The present invention can provide a piezoelectric material filler having excellent piezoelectric properties, and a composite piezoelectric material including the piezoelectric material filler and a polymer matrix.

The ceramic material element includes a main phase of orthorhombic perovskite-structure and a secondary phase due to a heat treatment within 700° C. to 850° C. for a first period followed by a second period within 1140° C. to 1170° C., from a mixture of materials A1, A2, A3, A4 and A5 excluding lead, the materials A1, A2, A3, A4 and A5 having molar ratios R1, R2, R3, R4 and R5, respectively, where the material A1 comprises potassium, the material A2 comprises sodium, the material A3 comprises barium, the material A4 comprises niobium, and the material A5 comprises nickel, and the molar ratio R1 is in a range 0.29-0.32, the molar ratio R2 is in a range 0.20-0.23, the molecular ratio R3 is in a range 0.01-0.02, the molar ratio R4 is in a range 0.54-0.55, and the molar ratio R5 is in a range 0.006-0.011, while a relative ratio of R1/R2 is in the range 1.24-1.52, and a relative ratio of R4/R2 is in the range 2.32-2.62. The ceramic material element converts optical radiation energy and mechanical vibration energy into electric energy.

The present invention is a piezoelectric composition and a piezoelectric element using the piezoelectric composition, the composition being characterized by: having a Perovskite structure represented by general formula ABO3; being represented by composition formula x(Bi0.5K0.5)TiO3-yBi(Mg0.5Ti0.5)O3-zBiFeO3, x+y+z=1 in the composition formula above; and in a triangular coordinate using x, y and z in the composition formula above, having a composition represented by a region which is surrounded by a pentagon ABCDE with apexes of point A (1, 0, 0), point B (0.7, 0.3, 0), point C (0.1, 0.3, 0.6), point D (0.1, 0.1, 0.8) and point E (0.2, 0, 0.8) and which does not include the line segment AE that connects point A (1, 0, 0) and point E (0.2, 0, 0.8).

A method for producing a ferroelectric polymer element includes: disposing one electrode on a substrate; applying polymer solution in which a polyvinylidene fluoride-based polymer is dissolved in a solvent including an aprotic polar solvent onto the one electrode by forme-based printing; firing the polymer solution to crystallize the polyvinylidene fluoride-based polymer, so that a ferroelectric layer is formed; and disposing the other electrode on the ferroelectric layer.

A piezoelectric material which is low in load on the environment, and also satisfies both the requirements of a high piezoelectric constant and a high mechanical quality factor. The piezoelectric material comprises a plurality of crystal grains containing Ba, Ca, Ti, Zr, Mn, and O. An average equivalent circle diameter of the crystal grains is not smaller than 1.0 μm and not larger than 10 μm. The crystal grains include crystal grains A each having a first domain with a width of not smaller than 300 nm and not larger than 800 nm, and crystal grains B each having a second domain with a width of not smaller than 20 nm and not larger than 50 nm.

The present invention relates to a method of preparing a solid solution ceramic material having increased electromechanical strain, as well as ceramic materials obtainable therefrom and uses thereof. In one aspect, the present invention provides a method A method of increasing electromechanical strain in a solid solution ceramic material which exhibits an electric field induced strain derived from a reversible transition from a non-polar state to a polar state; i) determining a molar ratio of at least one polar perovskite compound having a polar crystallographic point group to at least one non-polar perovskite compound having a non-polar crystallographic point group which, when combined to form a solid solution, forms a ceramic material with a major portion of a non-polar state; ii) determining the maximum polarization, P.sub.max, remanent polarisation, P.sub.r, and the difference, P.sub.max−P.sub.r, for the solid solution formed in step i); and either: iii)a) modifying the molar ratio determined in step i) to form a different solid solution of the same perovskite compounds which exhibits an electric field induced strain and which has a greater difference, P.sub.max−P.sub.r, between maximum polarization, P.sub.max, and remanent polarisation, P.sub.r, than for the solid solution from step i), or; iii)b) adjusting the processing conditions used for preparing the solid solution formed in step i) to increase the difference, P.sub.max−P.sub.r, in maximum polarization, P.sub.max, and remanent polarisation, P.sub.r, of the solid solution.

Compositions are disclosed that comprise a piezoelectric material according to Chemical Formula 1: (1−y)(Na.sub.aK.sub.1-a)(Nb.sub.1-x,Sb.sub.x)-ySrZrO.sub.3+n mol % CuO, wherein 0.01≤y≤0.10, 0.4≤a≤0.6, 0≤x≤0.06, and 0.5≤n≤1.5. The compositions can further comprise a first material, and a second material surrounded by the first material. A piezoelectric device is also described, which includes a piezoelectric device layer including a composition of Chemical Formula 1, and having a first material layer and a second material layer surrounded by the first material layer; a first electrode part disposed on a first surface of the piezoelectric device layer; and a second electrode part disposed on a second surface facing the first surface.

An electromechanical transducer includes an electromechanical transducer film of laminated layers including a perovskite-type complex oxide represented by a general formula of ABO.sub.3; and a pair of electrodes opposed to each other with the electromechanical transducer film interposed between the pair of electrodes. In the general formula of ABO.sub.3, A includes Pb and B includes Zr and Ti. A variable ratio ΔPb of Pb, determined by Pb(max)−Pb(min), is 6% or less and a variable ratio ΔZr of Zr, determined by Zr(max)−Zr(min), is 9% or less, where an atomic weight ratio of Pb in the electromechanical transducer film is denoted by Pb/B, an atomic weight ratio of Zr in the electromechanical transducer film is denoted by Zr/B, a maximum value and a minimum value of the atomic weight ratio of Pb in a film thickness direction of the electromechanical transducer film are denoted by Pb(max) and Pb(min), respectively, and a maximum value and a minimum value of the atomic weight ratio of Zr in the film thickness direction of the electromechanical transducer film are denoted by Zr(max) and Zr(min), respectively.