Low-Temperature Sintering and Piezoelectric Properties of the PZN-PZT Ceramics with LiBiO2

The 0.2Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3-0.8Pb(Zr0.5Ti0.5)O3 (0.2PZN-0.8PZT) ceramic system exhibits excellent piezoelectric properties; however, its high sintering temperature (~1,250°C) causes severe PbO volatilization, increases processing cost, and limits co-firing with low-melting-point electrodes in multilayer devices. In this study, LiBiO2 was introduced as a sintering aid to enable lowtemperature densification of 0.2PZN–0.8PZT ceramics. The optimal composition of x = 0.3 mol% sintered at 1,050°C achieved d33 = 367 pC/N, kp = 0.54, and εT33/ε0 = 1,643. The Curie temperature was also enhanced to 347.8°C, compared with 297.2°C for the reference specimen sintered at 1,250°C. These results demonstrate that LiBiO2 addition enables a 200°C reduction in sintering temperature while maintaining piezoelectric performance and improving thermal stability.