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A typical piezoelectric energy harvester is a bimorph cantilever with two layers of piezoelectric material on both sides of a flexible substrate. Piezoelectric layers of lead-based materials, typically lead zirconate titanate, have been mainly used due to their outstanding piezoelectric properties. However, due to lead toxicity and environmental problems, there is a need to replace them with environmentally benign materials. Here, our main efforts were focused on the preparation of hafnium-doped barium titanate (BaHfxTi1−xO3; BHT) sol–gel materials. The original process developed makes it possible to obtain a highly concentrated sol without strong organic complexing agents. Sol aging and concentration can be controlled to obtain a time-stable sol for a few months at room temperature, with desired viscosity and colloidal sizes. Densified bulk materials obtained from this optimized sol are compared with a solid-state synthesis, and both show good electromechanical properties: their thickness coupling factor kt values are around 53% and 47%, respectively, and their converse piezoelectric coefficient d 33 ∗ values are around 420 and 330 pm/V, respectively. According to the electromechanical properties, the theoretical behavior in a bimorph configuration can be simulated to predict the resonance and anti-resonance frequencies and the corresponding output power values to help to design the final device. In the present case, the bimorph configuration based on BHT sol–gel material is designed to harvest ambient vibrations at low frequency (<200 Hz). It gives a maximum normalized volumetric power density of 0.03 µW/mm3/Hz/g2 at 154 Hz under an acceleration of 0.05 m/s2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lead-based materials are widely used in piezoceramics due to their high electromechanical properties. However, due to environmental protection and sustainable development, the use of the toxic element lead (Pb) in electronic devices is strictly restricted, therefore requiring the rapid development of piezoelectric-based devices with lead-free ceramics. In this context, a lead-free doped barium titanate was studied with a dual objective. First, a new sol–gel method to synthesize Hf4+-doped BaHfxTi1−xO (BHT) with x = 0.05, 0.075, and 0.10 is presented. Such BHT sols were prepared at high concentrations of up to 1 M. Dilution in ethylene glycol allowed parameters (viscosity, colloid sizes, etc.) to be controlled, which ensured a time-stable sol for several months at room temperature. Second, densified bulk ceramics with attrited powders were obtained from these sols and showed very good electromechanical properties, with a thickness coupling factor of kt = 47% (BaHf0.05Ti0.95O3 sintered at 1500 °C/6 h). These results are a first step that will allow the processing of lead-free piezoelectric thick films using a sol–gel composite method for vibrational energy harvesting applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sol–gel strategies are carefully evaluated andcomparedto synthesize electrolyte materials for Intermediate Temperature SOFCs(Solid Oxide Fuel Cells). Robust 10–20 μm thick cubicYttria-Stabilized Zirconia (YSZ), (Y2O3)0.08(ZrO2)0.92, films have been preparedby using nanocomposite stable sols composed with “sol–gelmade” YSZ binders and YSZ powder. Two different strategieshave been investigated for the synthesis of 8YSZ binders: a mixedalkoxide-nitrate route in alcoholic media, and an environment-friendlyhydrothermal route, in water media. Ionic conductivities of ∼2.5× 10–2S cm–1are obtainedat 800 °C for powders made by the hydrothermal and the alkoxideroutes. Films synthesized from composite sols that contain commercialYSZ powder and the organic binder or the water-based binder, havebeen deposited on YSZ-NiO cermets and integrated in an entire singlefuel cell. The two optimized routes yield to gastight YSZ electrolytes.In particular with the organic-based binder, a maximum power densityof 250 mW cm–2at 850 °C has been achieved.The proposed route can be extended to other materials for differentapplications such as ferroelectric and dielectric materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]