Abstract
Cement-based 0–3 type lead-free piezoelectric composites, made from barium zirconate titanate (BZT) ceramic particles and Portland cement (PC) are developed for smart or intelligent structure in civil engineering. Ferroelectric hysteresis properties of the composites with different BZT contents at 40–70% by volume were then investigated. The results showed that the ferroelectric hysteresis loops can be seen for all composites. The “apparent” remnant polarization (Pr′ ) was found to increase with increasing BZT content. The “apparent” coercive field (Ec′ ) was found to decrease with increasing BZT content from 11.0 to 7.30 μC/cm2 at 15 kV/cm when BZT volume content used was 40% and 70% respectively.
Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful to members of staff at the Electroceramics Research Laboratory, Faculty of science, and Chiang Mai University for the research facilities made possible for this research work. The authors would like to express their gratitude for financial support from the Thailand Research Fund (TRF) through the Royal Golden Jubilee Ph.D. Program (Grant No. PHD/0042/2552) to Ruamporn Potong and Assistant Prof. Dr. Arnon Chaipanich is acknowledged. The authors would also like to express their gratitude for TRF-CHE Research Grant for Mid-Career University Faculty awarded to Assistant Prof. Dr. Arnon Chaipanich by the Thailand Research Fund (TRF), Office of the Higher Education Commission (Thailand) and Chiang Mai University. The Graduate School of Chiang Mai University is also acknowledged.
Communicated by Dr. Deborah J. Taylor