GB2219129A - Piezoelectric composites - Google Patents

Piezoelectric composites Download PDF

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Publication number
GB2219129A
GB2219129A GB8812508A GB8812508A GB2219129A GB 2219129 A GB2219129 A GB 2219129A GB 8812508 A GB8812508 A GB 8812508A GB 8812508 A GB8812508 A GB 8812508A GB 2219129 A GB2219129 A GB 2219129A
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GB
United Kingdom
Prior art keywords
composite
manufacturing
polymer
ceramic
piezoelectric
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Granted
Application number
GB8812508A
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GB8812508D0 (en
GB2219129B (en
Inventor
Martin Trevor Goosey
Philip Neil Andrew Seth
Geoffrey Michael Garner
Frank William Ainger
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Plessey Co Ltd
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Plessey Co Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
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Publication date
Application filed by Plessey Co Ltd filed Critical Plessey Co Ltd
Priority to GB8812508A priority Critical patent/GB2219129B/en
Publication of GB8812508D0 publication Critical patent/GB8812508D0/en
Priority to EP89906386A priority patent/EP0368986A1/en
Priority to PCT/GB1989/000561 priority patent/WO1989011738A1/en
Priority to AU36976/89A priority patent/AU613773B2/en
Publication of GB2219129A publication Critical patent/GB2219129A/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of GB2219129B publication Critical patent/GB2219129B/en
Expired legal-status Critical Current

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    • HELECTRICITY
    • H10SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • H10NELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • H10N30/00Piezoelectric or electrostrictive devices
    • H10N30/01Manufacture or treatment
    • H10N30/09Forming piezoelectric or electrostrictive materials
    • H10N30/092Forming composite materials

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Composite Materials (AREA)
  • Materials Engineering (AREA)
  • Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
  • Investigating Or Analyzing Materials By The Use Of Ultrasonic Waves (AREA)
  • Compositions Of Oxide Ceramics (AREA)

Abstract

The invention relates to piezoelectric composites and more particularly, but not exclusively, to a method of manufacturing a composite material in which a piezoelectric ceramic is dispersed as a powder within a polymer matrix. The method comprises forming a composite including a ceramic dispersed within a polymer matrix, partially curing the polymer matrix to a desired resistivity relative to the resistivity of the ceramic, applying a poling field to the composite to render the ceramic piezoelectric and increasing the resistivity of the polymer matrix by further curing. In one embodiment electrodes are bonded to the ceramic polymer composite by utilising the residual reactivity in the partially cured composite material to bond chemically the composite to the electrode material.

Description

IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO PIEZOELECTRIC COMPOSITES The present invention relates to piezoelectric composites and more particularly, but not exclusively, to a method of manufacturing a composite material wherein a piezoelectric ceramic is dispersed uniformly as a powder through a polymer matrix.
It is known that piezoelectric ceramics are widely used in transducer applications ranging from simple piezoelectric buzzers to complex multilayer actuators. They are also extensively utilised in underwater transducer applications such as hydrophones despite a number of distinct disadvantages. Although they have large d33 piezoelectric coefficients, these materials often have poor hydrostatic piezoelectric coefficients because the d31 coefficients are negative and serve to cancel out the contribution made by the d33 coefficient since dh = d33 + 2d31. In some applications their high permittivities are undesirable because this leads to a low voltage coefficient (gh = dh/e). Their high densities also prevent good impedance matching to water.Finally, being brittle ceramics they require sintering or hot pressing and subsequent machining to achieve the required shapes and in many cases a more compliant material with greater shock resistance is preferred.
One possible way of obviating these undesirable properties is to produce a composite material in which the ceramic powder is dispersed in a polymeric phase. This so called 0-3 composite approach offers distinct advantages for many uses since the polymer phase lowers the permittivity and density making the composites more suitable for underwater applications. The polymer phase also increases the compliance of the composite and offers the possibility of processing by more economical plastics processing technology such as compression, transfer and injection moulding. Using this approach the fabrication of complex shapes is much easier than by conventional ceramic processing and in particular the manufacture of large area tiles for underwater flank array application is considerably simplified.
The dispersion of the ceramic powder into a polymeric matrix is such that the individual particles of ceramic are effectively isolated from each other in all three dimensions by a continuously connected polymer. Because the ceramic particles are small compared with the thickness of typical composites, it is difficult to achieve satisfactory poling of the composite at the fields typically used for the ceramic.
This is because the field is disproportionately applied across the polymer rather than the ceramic as can be seen from the following equation which defines the field acting across an isolated ceramic particle in a low permittivity matrix:
E1, the field appearing across the ceramic particle is determined by the permittivities of the ceramic kl and the polymer k2. For typical values of 2000 for a piezoelectric ceramic and an epoxide matrix of 4.3, the field appearing across the ceramic could be less than 1% of the applied field Eo, and consequently very high fields would be required to achieve acceptable poled activity from the ceramic.
However, where the poling field can be applied to the composite for periods well in excess of the sample relaxation time, as in typical DC poling, the relationship between the electric fields appearing across the ceramic and polymer matrix can be defined by the Maxwell Wagner model as: E1/E2 = P1/P2 where E1 and E2 are the fields across the ceramic and polymer respectively and P1 and P2 are the resistivities of the ceramic and polymer. Consequently, if the resistivity of the ceramic and polymer matrix can be balanced it is possible to achieve reasonable poling of the ceramic. Most polymers have resistivities several orders of magnitude higher than the ceramic.The resistivity of a typical modified lead titanate ceramic at room temperature would be ~ 5 x 1010cm, whereas a suitable silicone or high purity epoxide might be 1 x 1015cm.
Various methods have been proposed to reduce the resistivity of the resin systems used, typical examples include loading the polymer with conducting or semiconducting materials such as carbon, germanium and silicon. Alternatively, lower purity resins can be used to closely match the resistivity to the ceramic. In many transducer applications however, it is desirable to maintain the highest resistivity possible in the polymer matrix in order to minimise the contribution to the dielectric loss of the composite and hence reduce the electrical noise generated. Also, the higher the resistivity of the polymer the higher the loading of conductive phase that is required to achieve a resistivity balance. At levels above 1.5 vol% loading the dielectric loss increases rapidly, and the application of large fields becomes increasingly difficult.
According to the present invention there is provided a method of manufacturing a piezoelectric composite, the method comprising forming a composite including a ceramic dispersed within a polymer matrix, partially curing the polymer matrix to a desired resistivity relative to the resistivity of the ceramic, applying a poling field to the composite to render the ceramic piezoelectric and increasing the resisflvity of the polymer matrix by further curing.
In one embodiment electrodes are bonded to the ceramic polymer composite by utilising the residual reactivity in the partially cured composite material to bond chemically the composite to the electrode material.
In one embodiment the poling field is maintained during at least part of the further curing process.
Multilayer composite electrode structures may be fabricated by applying the poling field to alternating layers of part cured polymericeramic and electrode material, and then by applying the further curing process to provide the final composite multilayer structure.
In one embodiment the ceramic polymer composite and the electrode material have identical or similar part cured compositions.
In another embodiment they have dissimilar part cured compositions. For example in the latter embodiment the ceramic polymer composite may be an epoxide resin whilst the electrode material may be a rubber based polymer. In yet a further embodiment co-polymer or polymer blends are utilised for both the composition of the ceramic polymer composite and the electrode polymer.
In a preferred embodiment the polymer matrix of the composite exhibits a large resistivity change during curing, the resistivity of the polymer matrix being similar to the ceramic in the partially cured state but being significantly higher after the full cure.
The electrode may in one form be screen printed on to the partially cured composite, the poling field being applied via the screen printed electrode and the electroded composite being fully cured with the poling field applied.
In one embodiment the desired resistivity of the polymer matrix is achieved partly by loading the composite with a conductive filler and partly by exploiting the resistivity change on curing of the composite polymer mix.
Other aspects of the invention include the provision of a piezoelectric/polymer '0-3' composite manufactured by embodiments of the invention described above; and the manufacture of a transducer incorporating piezoelectric composites manufactured in accordance with the present invention. In one embodiment the method of manufacturing the transducer includes bonding of the partially cured, poled composite to a metal substrate by utilising the residual reactivity of a partially cured resin component of the composite. In another embodiment the partially cured composite is attached to a metal substrate during the final curing process whilst simultaneously applying the poling field.
This invention is based on the fact that the resistivity of most polymers changes between the cured and uncured states, and is particularly relevant when the changes are several orders of magnitude. With the correct choice of polymer matrix, its resistivity can be made to balance the ceramic resistivity. By partially curing the polymer to the required resistivity, poling can be achieved before final cure of the resin is completed. In this way high purity, high resistivity polymers can be utilised in composite fabrication and these can provide both the resistivity balance required for poling to suitable activity and the high resistivities required to produce low loss composites for low noise transducers.
The concept of utilising a partially cured polymer matrix also offers the advantage of allowing chemical bonding of electrode structures to the piezoelectric ceramic polymer composite. In order to pole a typical composite structure, and also to allow the electrical connection required for any conceivable transducer application, electrodes have to be applied. Simple electroding can be achieved by painting on conductive silver electrodes such as silver DAG but for enhanced ruggedness robust conductive polymeric electrodes are preferred. There is often difficulty in bonding these electrodes to the fully cured polymer ceramic composites resulting in poor interfacial integrity between the composite and the electrode. By utilising only a partial cure, the composite polymer matrix can have sufficient reactivity remaining to allow chemical bonding of the polymeric electrode system.Various alternatives exist with this method, for example, the partially cured composite could have the polymeric electrode attached by further partial curing. The composite would then be poled and full cure completed after poling or even towards the end of poling, with the temperature being increased whilst the field was still applied. Alternatively poling could be achieved by the attachment of temporary electrodes, such as silver DAG, to the composite which would then be removed prior to attachment of the robust electrodes and final cure.
Further possibilities exist for utilising the partial cure concept, since advanced device structures could be configured in such a way as to allow direct bonding of the transducers to their host vehicle, plane or vessel. An example would be in the bonding of hydrophone tiles directly to submarine hulls in flank arrays. This method would be particularly suitable for attaching larger area transducers to any metal surface such as aircraft fuselage or perhaps underground piping systems. Poling during transducer attachment, by the use of suitable corona poling equipment would also be possible. A combined poling/curing apparatus might also be feasible for certain applications.
As an example of a composite utilising this partial cure route, a piezoelectric ceramic and an epoxide resin system could be formulated as follows.
The selected ceramic powder is roll milled with the epoxide resin system to facilitate dispersion and this may (optionally) be assisted by the use of a chosen dispersion agent, such a soya bean lecithin. A suitable epoxide system would be an epoxidised novolac cured by the tertiary amine accelerated reaction with a novolac resin.
This type of system has the advantage that it could be partially cured (B staged) at temperatures below 1000C and this could be easily achieved during the milling of the ceramic and polymeric components. This system would also conveniently produce a B stage material which was solid at room temperature, thereby facilitating relatively easy processing. For example, if removed from the roll mill as solid sheets subsequent processing into suitably shaped tiles could be achieved at modest temperatures and pressures by, for example, compression moulding. The temperatures and times of this process would be determined in order to maintain or to adjust the resistivity balance to the desired value. Electrodes would then be temporarily attached and poling performed.After electrode removal, permanent robust electrodes could then be attached to the partially reacted composite. A suitable electrode system would again be a B stage epoxide novolac as used for the composite but this time being filled with a conductive material such as carbon, silver or copper. In addition, a metal mesh could be incorporated to facilitate ease of connection. Alternatively a conductive ink such as a copper or silver filled epoxide system could be screen printed on to the partially cured composite. In all of these examples the composite could be poled after the attachment of the final robust electrode system but prior to final curing. If the chosen resin system requires an elevated temperature cure this could be performed with the poling field still applied in order to prevent depoling although for some ceramics this would not be a problem. If both the partially cured composite and the electrode polymer are identical or are chosen to be chemically compatible in terms of adhesive bonding the two will react during the final cure, effectively eliminating the electrodelcomposite interface.

Claims (17)

1. A method of manufacturing a piezoelectric composite, the method comprises forming a composite including a ceramic dispersed within a polymer matrix, partially curing the polymer matrix to a desired resistivity relative to the resistivity of the ceramic, applying a poling field to the composite to render the ceramic piezoelectric and increasing the resistivity of the polymer matrix by further curing.
2. A method of manufacturing a piezoelectric composite according to claim 1 wherein electrodes are bonded to the ceramic polymer composite by utilising the residual reactivity in the partially cured composite material to bond chemically the composite to the electrode material.
3. A method of manufacturing a piezoelectric composite according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the poling field is maintained during at least part of the further curing process.
4. A method of manufacturing a piezoelectric composite according to any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein multilayer composite structures are fabricated by applying the poling field to a plurality of layers of part cured polymer/ceramic via interleaved electrode material, and then applying the further curing process to provide the final composite multilayer structure.
5. A method of manufacturing a piezoelectric composite according to claim 2 wherein the ceramic polymer composite and the electrode material have identical or similar part cured polymer compositions.
6. A method of manufacturing a piezoelectric composite according to claim 2 wherein the ceramic polymer composite and the electrode material have dissimilar part cured polymer compositions.
7. A method of manufacturing a piezoelectric composite as claimed in claim 6 wherein the ceramic polymer composite is an epoxide based composition and the electrode material is a rubber based polymer.
8. A method of manufacturing a piezoelectric composite as claimed in claim 2 wherein copolymer or polymer blends are utilised for both the composition of the ceramic polymer composite and the electrode polymer.
9. A method of manufacturing a piezoelectric composite as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8 wherein the polymer matrix of the composite exhibits a large resistivity change during curing, the resistivity of the polymer matrix being similar to the ceramic in the partially cured state but being significantly higher after the full cure.
10. A method of manufacturing a piezoelectric composite as claimed in claim 1 wherein an electrode is screen printed on to the partially cured composite.
11. A method of manufacturing a piezoelectric composite as claimed in claim 10 wherein the poling field is applied via the screen printed electrode and the electroded composite is fully cured with the poling field applied.
12. A method of manufacturing a piezoelectric composite as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 11 wherein the desired resistivity of the polymer matrix is achieved partly by loading the composite with a conductive filler and partly by exploiting the resistivity change on curing of the composite polymer mix.
13. A method of manufacturing a transducer, the method comprising manufacturing a piezoelectric composite according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein bonding of the partially cured, poled composite to a metal substrate takes place by utilising the residual reactivity of a partially cured resin composition of the composite.
14. A method of manufacturing a transducer, the method comprising manufacturing a piezoelectric composite according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein attaching the partially cured composite to a metal substrate takes place during the final curing process whilst simultaneously applying the poling field.
15. A method of manufacturing a piezoelectric composite substantially according to the method as hereinbefore described in the description.
16. A piezoelectricipolymer '0-3' composite manufactured by a method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 13.
17. A transducer incorporating a piezoelectric composite manufactured by a method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 13.
GB8812508A 1988-05-26 1988-05-26 Improvements in and relating to piezoelectric composites Expired GB2219129B (en)

Priority Applications (4)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB8812508A GB2219129B (en) 1988-05-26 1988-05-26 Improvements in and relating to piezoelectric composites
EP89906386A EP0368986A1 (en) 1988-05-26 1989-05-22 Improvements in and relating to piezoelectric composites
PCT/GB1989/000561 WO1989011738A1 (en) 1988-05-26 1989-05-22 Improvements in and relating to piezoelectric composites
AU36976/89A AU613773B2 (en) 1988-05-26 1989-05-22 Improvements in and relating to piezoelectric composites

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB8812508A GB2219129B (en) 1988-05-26 1988-05-26 Improvements in and relating to piezoelectric composites

Publications (3)

Publication Number Publication Date
GB8812508D0 GB8812508D0 (en) 1988-06-29
GB2219129A true GB2219129A (en) 1989-11-29
GB2219129B GB2219129B (en) 1992-06-03

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GB8812508A Expired GB2219129B (en) 1988-05-26 1988-05-26 Improvements in and relating to piezoelectric composites

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EP (1) EP0368986A1 (en)
AU (1) AU613773B2 (en)
GB (1) GB2219129B (en)
WO (1) WO1989011738A1 (en)

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2243946A (en) * 1990-05-09 1991-11-13 Plessey Res Caswell A method of poling an electroactive composite material
US7213339B2 (en) * 2000-12-12 2007-05-08 Gyros Ab Method of manufacturing a microscale nozzle

Families Citing this family (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2235576B (en) * 1989-08-30 1993-05-12 Plessey Co Plc Improved electro-active composite poling efficiency
CN108846191B (en) * 2018-06-07 2022-04-15 哈尔滨工业大学 Distributed parameter saturated capacitance model modeling method for piezoelectric ceramic actuator

Family Cites Families (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB455186A (en) * 1936-01-10 1936-10-15 Solomon Marcus Sager Improvements in a fountain pen
US2434143A (en) * 1943-04-17 1948-01-06 Chilowsky Constantin Supersonic signal transmitter and receiver
GB665452A (en) * 1944-04-08 1952-01-23 Technical Assets Inc Method and apparatus for making artificial piezoelectric elements
FR2501916A1 (en) * 1981-03-13 1982-09-17 Commissariat Energie Atomique PIEZOELECTRIC COMPOSITE MATERIAL AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME
DE3138249C2 (en) * 1981-09-25 1983-10-27 Siemens AG, 1000 Berlin und 8000 München Synthetic resin-impregnated piezoceramic body

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2243946A (en) * 1990-05-09 1991-11-13 Plessey Res Caswell A method of poling an electroactive composite material
US7213339B2 (en) * 2000-12-12 2007-05-08 Gyros Ab Method of manufacturing a microscale nozzle

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
GB8812508D0 (en) 1988-06-29
GB2219129B (en) 1992-06-03
AU613773B2 (en) 1991-08-08
WO1989011738A1 (en) 1989-11-30
EP0368986A1 (en) 1990-05-23
AU3697689A (en) 1989-12-12

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Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
732 Registration of transactions, instruments or events in the register (sect. 32/1977)
PCNP Patent ceased through non-payment of renewal fee

Effective date: 19920903