Piezoelectric ceramics convert mechanical energy into electrical energy and are widely used in sensors, transducers and actuators. However, the field has long been constrained by a classic trade-off, often described as the impossibility of having “both fish and bear’s paw”. In practice, it is desirable for piezoelectric ceramics to simultaneously exhibit a high piezoelectric coefficient ( d 33 ), a high Curie temperature ( T c ), a large electromechanical coupling coefficient ( k p ) and a low dielectric loss (tan δ ). Unfortunately, these key properties are intrinsically interdependent such that improvement in one often comes at the expense of another. Breaking this trade-off to enable the concurrent enhancement of multiple properties remains one of the central challenges in the field.
Recently, a team led by Ruihong Liang at the Shanghai Institute of Ceramics proposed a multicomponent B-site strategy (PbMg 1/3 Nb 2/3 O 3 →(PbNi 1/3 Nb 2/3 O 3 -PbZr(Ti)O 3 )，PMN-PNN-PZT) to induce lattice distortion and promote ferroelectric domain growth under conditions of domain disorder. In this work, the B-site (PMN) acts as “seesaw” to balance competing effects, enabling the concurrent enhancement of multiple key parameters ( d 33 , d 33 * , k p and T c ) in piezoelectric ceramics. The successful implementation of this strategy provides a simple yet effective new strategy for overcoming the antagonistic relationships among multiple properties in piezoelectric ceramics.
The team published their work in Journal of Advanced Ceramics on April 7, 2026.
To address the long-standing challenge of “multi-parameter balance” in piezoelectric ceramics, this study proposes and validates a simple yet effective strategy. The central concept employs multicomponent B-site cations as a “seesaw”. Differences in B-site ionic radii induce subtle lattice distortions while promoting domain growth under preserved ferroelectric disorder, enabling the concurrent optimization of multiple parameters at low dielectric loss.
To implement this strategy a highly piezoelectric activity PNN-PZT system was selected as the matrix. The incorporation of PMN, which possesses a relatively high T c and a slightly larger B-site ionic radius (Mg 2+ ) induces subtle lattice distortions. Once successfully integrated into the lattice, PMN induces distortions of the BO 6 oxygen octahedra, which effectively enhance the intrinsic contribution to the piezoelectric response, thereby improving the overall piezoelectric performance.
At the microscale, the performance of piezoelectric ceramics is closely correlated with their ferroelectric domain structure. Excessively small domains tend to give rise to pronounced domain-wall pinning. In this study, the introduction of an appropriate amount of PMN promotes ferroelectric domain growth. Under conditions where domain disorder is preserved, moderately enlarged domains reduce the domain-wall density, thereby mitigating pinning effects, which in turn contributes to an enhanced k p and reduced tan δ .
This design principle is not limited to a single material system but exhibits considerable generality. By selecting B-site cations with appropriate ionic radii according to the piezoelectric matrix and by integrating compositional design with domain-structure engineering, similar concurrent enhancements of multiple performance parameters are expected across diverse piezoelectric systems. Such an approach offers a promising pathway towards the development of high-performance piezoelectric materials with elevated operating temperatures.
Other contributors include Ziao Xing, Wei Peng, Chenming Gu, Zhengran Chen, Dongxu Cheng and Xiaorong Lu from the Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (grant no. 2023YFB3208400), Oil & Gas Major Project (grant no. 2025ZD1402003) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. U2241242).
Ruihong Liang is a Professor at the Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, where she leads the research group on piezoelectric ceramic materials and devices.
About Journal of Advanced Ceramics
Journal of Advanced Ceramics (JAC) is an international academic journal that presents the state-of-the-art results of theoretical and experimental studies on the processing, structure, and properties of advanced ceramics and ceramic-based composites. JAC is Fully Open Access, monthly published by Tsinghua University Press, and exclusively available via SciOpen . JAC’s 2024 IF is 16.6, ranking in Top 1 (1/34, Q1) among all journals in “Materials Science, Ceramics” category, and its 2024 CiteScore is 25.9 (5/130) in Scopus database. ResearchGate homepage: https://www.researchgate.net/journal/Journal-of-Advanced-Ceramics-2227-8508
Journal of Advanced Ceramics
Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3 induced oxygen octahedral distortions and domain growth for concurrent enhancement of multiple parameters in PNN–PZT
7-Apr-2026