Influence of polyethylene content on preparation and properties of lead zirconate titanate piezoelectric ceramics via vat photopolymerization

Vat photopolymerization has garnered significant research interest due to its capabilities in achieving complicated designed structures and high resolution. However, there are still significant technical difficulties in manufacturing some piezoceramic parts because of the high refractive index and ultraviolet light absorptivity of these ceramic powders. Herein, we overcome this challenge for lead zirconate titanate (PZT) ceramics by introducing polyethylene (PE) additions with ultralow refractive index and UV light absorptivity into PZT slurries. As the PE content increases, the curing depth shows a clear upward trend. When the PE content is 30 vol %, the curing depth of PZT slurry could ensure the adequate interlayer combination. Besides, PZT ceramics with different volumes of porosity could be obtained by modulating PE content. The relative density of sintered PZT ceramics decreased from 83.12 % to 68.06 %. Furthermore, the samples with 30 vol% PE exhibited satisfactory dielectric and piezoelectric properties (epsilon r =1911, tan delta=0.027, d33 = 308 pC/N, g33 = 1.82 x 10-2 Vm/N and d33g33= 5.61 x 10-12 m2/N). These results indicate that the addition of PE additives is an effective and universal approach to improve the curing depth of ceramic slurries and expand the range of processable materials for vat photopolymerization technologies.