Gowdhaman P et al /International Journal of Advances in Scientific Research 2016; 2(03): 064-068 64 IJASR|VOL 02|ISSUE 03|2016 www.ssjournals.com International Journal of Advances in Scientific Research ISSN: 2395-3616 (Online) Journal DOI: 10.7439/ijasr Research Article Significance of Micro and Nano PZT Particles on Dielectric and Piezoelectric Properties of PZT-PVDF Composites Gowdhaman P, Annamalai V * , Haresh M Pandya and Kumar P R Department of Physics, Chikkanna Government Arts College, Tirupur-02, Tamilnadu, India *Correspondence Info: Annamalai V, Assistant Professor of Physics, Chikkanna Government Arts College, Tirupur- 641 602, Tamilnadu, India. E-mail: annamalai_140795@yahoo.co.in Abstract PZT-PVDF composites were prepared using different particle size of PZT and a hot press apparatus has been used for making samples. The structural and compositional analysis of the composite sample was done by using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Energy Dispersive Analysis of X-rays (EDAX) respectively. The grain size of the ball milled PZT powder was analyzed using powder X-Ray Diffraction (XRD). The samples were poled at a fixed temperature for about an hour under different poling fields. The dielectric constant (ε r ) and the piezoelectric properties like piezoelectric strain coefficient (d 33 ) and voltage coefficient (g 33 ) of composite have been analyzed. Keywords: lead zirconate titanate, composite, particle size, dielectric constant, strain coefficient, voltage coefficient, ferroelectric materials. 1. Introduction Ferroelectric materials have recently become so popular due to its spontaneous polarization behavior [1]. Ferroelectric ceramic-polymer composites are one such material which is under the study by many researchers around the world. Ferroelectric materials possess excellent dielectric and piezoelectric properties which make them useful for a diverse range of applications [2–5]. Though ferroelectric ceramics have much better dielectric and piezoelectric properties as a single phase material, it has its own limitations for high pressure applications which constrains their use as raw material. On the other end, ferroelectric polymers become more attractive for its exceptional mechanical stability but they offer very low dielectric and piezoelectric properties. Hence the combined properties of ferroelectric ceramic and polymers are desirable for many practical applications [2, 6–8]. Among several ferroelectric ceramic materials lead zirconate titanate (PZT) has been the material under study because of its superior properties over other ceramic phases. In the meanwhile, polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) has been identified to be a one of the suitable ferroelectric polymer. Hence PZT and PVDF have been chosen for the preparation of composites in this study. Ceramic and polymer phases are combined together using a suitable solvent which makes the composite of 0-3 connectivity. Though there are 10 different connectivity patterns reported for a biphasic solid, the 0-3 connectivity become so popular because of its reliability and ease of fabrication [5, 9]. In 0-3 connectivity the volume fraction of PZT can be easily altered, but for the present study it has been chosen as 0.5 whereas the composites were prepared using different particle size of PZT particles. The different micrometer sized PZT particles (25 μm, 37 μm, and 54 μm) were obtained using nylon sieve plates. The PZT nano particle (17 nm) was obtained from ball milling of PZT powder. The dielectric and piezoelectric properties of the composites with different particle size of PZT have been examined to optimize the particle size of PZT. 2. Experimental methods The ferroelectric PZT-PVDF composite has been prepared using different particle size of PZT (say 17 nm, 25 μm, 37 μm and 53 μm) at 0.5 volume fraction of PZT. Nylon sieve plates are employed to obtain different particle size of PZT. American Piezo Ceramics (APC 855) PZT ceramic powder and PVDF pellets from Sigma Aldrich chemicals have been used for composite preparation. Cyclohexanone has been used as a solvent for composite preparation. There are numerous methods exist for the composite sample