1-3 piezoelectric composites for high-temperature transducer applications

High-temperature Pb(Zr,Ti)O₃/epoxy 1-3 composites were fabricated using the dice and fill method. The epoxy filler was modified with glass spheres in order to improve the thermal reliability of the composites at elevated temperatures. Temperature-dependent dielectric and electromechanical properties of the composites were measured after ageing at 250 °C with different dwelling times. Obvious cracks were observed and the electrodes were damaged in the composite with unmodified epoxy after 200 h, leading to the failure of the composite. In contrast, composites with >12 vol% glass sphere loaded epoxies were found to exhibit minimal electrical property variation after ageing for 500 h, with dielectric permittivity, piezoelectric coefficient and electromechanical coupling being on the order of 940, 310 pC N^-1 and 57%, respectively. This is due to the improved thermal expansion behaviour of the modified filler.