Influence of water-cement ratio on the properties of 2-2 cement based piezoelectric composite

Composites with 2-2 connectivity were fabricated from plates of “PMN” ceramic embedded in a sulphoaluminate cement matrix by a cut-filling process. The influences of the water-cement ratio in the matrix on the properties of the composite were analyzed. The results show that when the water-cement ratio is less than 0.4, the piezoelectric stain factor d₃₃ and piezoelectric voltage factor g₃₃ increase smoothly. When the water-cement ratio is larger than 0.4, d₃₃ and g₃₃ increase obviously with increasing the water-cement ratio. This is attributed to a more effective contact between the active and matrix phases. d₃₃ = 322 pc N^− 1 and g₃₃ = 20.9 mV mN^− 1 at a water-cement ratio of 0.45. The planar electromechanical coupling coefficient K_p of the composite is nearly independent of the water-cement ratio. With increasing the water-cement ratio, the thickness electromechanical coupling coefficient K_t of the composite increases, while the mechanical quality factor Q_m exhibits the trend of decrease.