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Abstract Lead-free piezoceramics based on the (Ba, Ca)(Zr, Ti)O3 (BCZT) system exhibit excellent electromechanical properties for low-temperature actuation applications, but suffer from relatively high processing temperatures. Here we demonstrate an approach for the reduction of the sintering temperature and simultaneous increase of the electromechanical strain response of (Ba, Ca)(Zr, Ti)O3 piezoceramics by aliovalent doping with Ce. The samples were prepared by solid state synthesis and their crystallographic structure, dielectric, ferroelectric, and electromechanical properties were investigated. The highest d*33 value of 1189 pm/V was obtained for the sample with 0.05 mol% Ce, substituted on the A-site of the perovskite lattice. The results indicate a large potential of these materials for off-resonance piezoelectric actuators.

The affiliation of author “Raziye HAYATI” in the original version of this article was unfortunately wrongly written on page 186, instead of Semiconductor Division, Materials and Energy Research Center, Karaj 31787/316, Iran It should read Department of Materials Engineering, Yasouj University, Yasouj, 75918-74934, Iran