Fabrication of textured BNKLT ceramics by Reactive Templated Grain Growth using NBT templates

Textured Bi
_0.5
Na
_0.35
K
_0.1
Li
_0.05
TiO
₃
(BNKLT) ceramics have been fabricated by a Reactive Templated Grain Growth (RTGG) method using plate-like Na
_0.5
Bi
_0.5
TiO
₃
(NBT) templates. The NBT templates were synthesized from bismuth layer-structured ferroelectric Na
_0.5
Bi
_4.5
Ti
₄
O
₁₅
(NBiT) particles by the topochemical method. After reactively sintering at 1085degC for 12 h, the ceramic textured with 20 wt% NBT templates contains a large fraction of grains aligned with their a-axis normal to the sample surface, giving a Lotgering factor of 0.6. The piezoelectric properties were improved while depolarization temperature remained almost unchanged. The piezoelectric coefficient d
₃₃
of the ceramic reaches a high value of 300 pC/N, while the electromechanical coupling coefficients k
_p
and k
_t
are 0.39 and 0.56, respectively.