J. Mater. Sci. Technol. ›› 2026, Vol. 254: 249-257.DOI: 10.1016/j.jmst.2025.07.053

• Research Article • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Enhanced energy harvesting performances in (K, Na)NbO3-based piezoceramics based on crystallographic texture

Rui Lva, Xin Gaob, Linjing Liua, Hang Xiea, Zerui Zhanga, Mupeng Zhengb,*, Yudong Houb, Weibao Qiuc, Paolo Colombod, Yunfei Changa,e,*   

  1. aFunctional Materials and Acousto-Optic Instruments Institute, School of Instrumentation Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150080, China;
    bKey Laboratory of Advanced Functional Materials, Ministry of Education, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China;
    cState Key Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging Science and System, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, China;
    dDepartment of Industrial Engineering, University of Padova, Padova 35131, Italy;
    eZhengzhou Research Institute, Harbin Institute of Technology, Zhengzhou 450046, China
  • Received:2025-04-07 Revised:2025-07-22 Accepted:2025-07-23 Online:2026-05-08
  • Contact: *E-mail addresses: mpzheng@bjut.edu.cn (M. Zheng), changyunfei@hit.edu.cn (Y. Chang)

Abstract: Piezoelectric energy harvesters have recently attracted considerable attention due to the strong demand for efficient and sustainable power supply in smart electronic devices. Nevertheless, thermodynamic constraints-induced low figure of merit (d × g) and sacrifice of the operating temperature range hinder further enhancement of comprehensive energy harvesting performances in (K, Na)NbO3-based ceramics. In this work, we propose a grain orientation and structure synergistic manipulation strategy to solve this issue. Highly [001]c-oriented (K0.44Na0.52Li0.04)(Nb0.85Ta0.15)O3-x vol.% NaNbO3 ceramics are synthesized by templated grain growth using platelike NaNbO3 templates, and relationships among template content, composition, texture and structure characteristics, electrical properties, and power generation properties of the ceramics are investigated. Excitingly, a very large d33 × g33 value of 28.0×10-12 m2 N-1, which corresponds to 4.3 times that of the nontextured counterpart at x = 0, is achieved in the textured ceramics (x = 5) with maintaining a high Curie temperature (Tc∼375 °C). Such enhancement of d33 × g33 can be mainly attributed to the maximized exploration of piezoelectric anisotropy, the enhancement of polarization rotation, and the effective suppression of dielectric permittivity, owing to the high [001]c texture and increased orthorhombic phase content. Consequently, substantially enhanced output power densities, e.g., 4.5 μW mm-3 at 1 g acceleration, are achieved in the textured energy harvesters. The comprehensive energy harvesting properties of the textured ceramics (x = 5) surpass those of previously reported lead-free ceramics. This work offers a promising strategy for the development of novel ceramic materials with enhanced energy harvesting performances, and highlights the potential of textured (K, Na)NbO3-based ceramics for high-performance energy harvesters.

Key words: Potassium sodium niobate, Energy harvesting, Power density, Piezoelectric properties, Phase transition temperature, Templated grain growth