Toshihiko Tani | PubMed Health

PubMed2005

The formation mechanism of a textured ceramic of thermoelectric [Ca2CoO3](0.62)[CoO2] on beta-Co(OH)2 templates through in situ topotactic conversion.

We investigated the formation mechanism of thermoelectric [Ca(2)CoO(3)](0.62)[CoO(2)] (CCO) on beta-Co(OH)(2) templates with maintained orientations by identifying the intermediate phases and specifying the relationship between their crystallographic orientations. We mixed beta-Co(OH)(2) templates with the complementary reactant CaCO(3) and prepared a compact by tape casting, with the developed (001) plane of the templates aligned along the casting plane. High-temperature XRD of the compact revealed that beta-Co(OH)(2) decomposed into Co(3)O(4) by 873 K, and Co(3)O(4) reacted with CaO to form CCO by 1193 K via the formation of the newly detected intermediate phase beta-Na(x)()CoO(2)-type Ca(x)()CoO(2) at 913-973 K. Pole figure measurements and SEM and TEM observations revealed that the relationship between the crystallographic planes was (001) beta-Co(OH)(2)//{111} Co(3)O(4)//(001) Ca(x)()CoO(2)//(001) CCO. The crystal structures of the four materials possess the common CoO(2) layer (or similar), which is composed of edge-sharing CoO(6) octahedra, parallel to the planes. The cross-sectional HRTEM analysis of an incompletely reacted specimen showed transient lattice images from Ca(x)()CoO(2) into CCO, in which every other CoO(2) layer of Ca(x)()CoO(2) was preserved. Thus, it was demonstrated that a textured CCO ceramic is produced through a series of in situ topotactic conversion reactions with a preserved CoO(2) layer of its template.

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PubMed2004

Lead-free piezoceramics.

Lead has recently been expelled from many commercial applications and materials (for example, from solder, glass and pottery glaze) owing to concerns regarding its toxicity. Lead zirconium titanate (PZT) ceramics are high-performance piezoelectric materials, which are widely used in sensors, actuators and other electronic devices; they contain more than 60 weight per cent lead. Although there has been a concerted effort to develop lead-free piezoelectric ceramics, no effective alternative to PZT has yet been found. Here we report a lead-free piezoelectric ceramic with an electric-field-induced strain comparable to typical actuator-grade PZT. We achieved this through the combination of the discovery of a morphotropic phase boundary in an alkaline niobate-based perovskite solid solution, and the development of a processing route leading to highly <001> textured polycrystals. The ceramic exhibits a piezoelectric constant d33 (the induced charge per unit force applied in the same direction) of above 300 picocoulombs per newton (pC N(-1)), and texturing the material leads to a peak d33 of 416 pC N(-1). The textured material also exhibits temperature-independent field-induced strain characteristics.

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