Superior Electromechanical Compatibility in Lead-Free Piezoceramics with Mobile Transition-Metal Defects

Donor and acceptor ions serving as extrinsic defects in piezoelectrics are mostly used to improve the performance merits to satisfy the industrial application. However, the conventional doping strategy is unable to overcome the inherent trade-off between the piezoelectric coefficient (d₃₃) and mechanical quality factor (Q_m). Herein, inspired by the valence state variation observed in manganese oxides during sintering, this study focuses on manipulating intrinsic oxygen vacancies and extrinsic manganese defects in potassium sodium niobate (KNN) ceramics via heat treatment. The annealing process results in a simultaneous improvement in both d₃₃ (20%) and Q_m (80%), leading to comparable performance with commercial PZT-5A ceramics and enabling their application in atomizer components. Moreover, the mechanism of manganese occupation and diffusion is proposed by an extended X-ray absorption fine structure and density functional theory analysis. The improved electromechanical performance in the annealed KNN ceramic is associated with the optimized redistribution of acceptor and donor manganese defects, which is facilitated by the recombination of oxygen vacancies. This work breaks longstanding obstacles in comprehending the existing forms of manganese in KNN and offers potential in popularizing KNN-based piezoceramics to replace traditional PZT lead-based counterparts in the industrial market.