Development of Piezo smart materials and devices at NAL

Materials used for both sensing and actuation are known as smart materials. Ceramic materials such as Lead Zirconate Titanate (PZT) and Lead Magnesium Niobate (PMN) are widely used for various smart applications such as sensing and control of aero structures. PZTs are solid solutions of Lead Zirconate and lead Titanate. The piezo properties are maximum near Morphotropic Phase Boundary (MPB) and are further enhanced by addition of suitable depends such as La3+, Nb5+, Nd3+ etc. At NAL, PZT powders of high coefficient are prepared by wet-chemical route