High electrostrictive strain in Nd-doped Pb(Ni1/3Nb2/3)O3-PbZrO3-PbTiO3 ceramics

Qinghu Guo; Ting Wang; Jinglong Fan; Yimang Zhao; Xiangyu Meng; Xiaoyi Gao; Zhonghua Yao; Weiping Gong; Hanxing Liu; Hua Hao; Shujun Zhang

doi:10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2026.118583

High electrostrictive strain in Nd-doped Pb(Ni_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃-PbZrO₃-PbTiO₃ ceramics

Qinghu Guo
, Ting Wang
, Jinglong Fan
, Yimang Zhao
, Xiangyu Meng
, Xiaoyi Gao
, Zhonghua Yao
, Weiping Gong
, Hanxing Liu
, Hua Hao^*
, Shujun Zhang^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Chemistry

Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

Abstract

Electrostrictive ceramics are crucial for high-precision actuators due to their low hysteresis, fast response, and low heat dissipation. In this work, Nd³⁺ was strategically employed to optimize the electrostrictive properties of x Nd-doped Pb(Ni_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃-PbZrO₃-PbTiO₃ (PNN-PZ-PT) ceramics. A phase transition from the morphotropic phase boundary to a cubic structure, accompanied by enhanced dielectric relaxor behavior was observed with increasing Nd content, which can be attributed to the disruption of long-range ordered ferroelectric domains caused by aliovalent Nd doping-induced local structural heterogeneities—thereby reducing strain hysteresis and enabling improved electrostrictive response. Notably, outstanding electrostrictive strain of 0.105% and high electrostrictive coefficient M₃₃ = 10.5 × 10⁻¹⁶ m²/V² were obtained under a 10 kV/cm for the 3%Nd-doped PNN-PZ-PT ceramic, superior to other relaxor ferroelectric ceramics. Additionally, this composition exhibits outstanding cycling reliability with only 5% strain degradation over 10⁶ electrical cycles, positioning it as a promising candidate for precision micro-actuators applications requiring ultra-stable, high-efficiency electromechanical responses. © 2026 Elsevier Ltd.

Original language	English
Article number	118583
Journal	Journal of the European Ceramic Society
Volume	46
Issue number	15
Online published	4 Jun 2026
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2026.118583
Publication status	Online published - 4 Jun 2026

Funding

This work was supported by Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation (2026A1515010064), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2023YFB3812200), the Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 52472135), Center for International Cooperation and Disciplinary Innovation (111 Center, B23016) and Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Electronic Functional Materials and Devices (EFMD2024002M). The authors would like to acknowledge Dr. Zhao Deng of Materials research and testing center of Wuhan University of Technology for the STEM testing. X.G acknowledged the supports by the Taishan Industrial Experts Program (No.tscx202507141) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.52402161).

Research Keywords

Electrostrictive
Local structural heterogeneity
PNN-PZ-PT
Relaxor ferroelectric
Strain

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@article{b7bb09658d9b4c9397e68ca6bef9a31e,

title = "High electrostrictive strain in Nd-doped Pb(Ni1/3Nb2/3)O3-PbZrO3-PbTiO3 ceramics",

abstract = "Electrostrictive ceramics are crucial for high-precision actuators due to their low hysteresis, fast response, and low heat dissipation. In this work, Nd3+ was strategically employed to optimize the electrostrictive properties of x Nd-doped Pb(Ni1/3Nb2/3)O3-PbZrO3-PbTiO3 (PNN-PZ-PT) ceramics. A phase transition from the morphotropic phase boundary to a cubic structure, accompanied by enhanced dielectric relaxor behavior was observed with increasing Nd content, which can be attributed to the disruption of long-range ordered ferroelectric domains caused by aliovalent Nd doping-induced local structural heterogeneities—thereby reducing strain hysteresis and enabling improved electrostrictive response. Notably, outstanding electrostrictive strain of 0.105\% and high electrostrictive coefficient M33 = 10.5 × 10−16 m2/V2 were obtained under a 10 kV/cm for the 3\%Nd-doped PNN-PZ-PT ceramic, superior to other relaxor ferroelectric ceramics. Additionally, this composition exhibits outstanding cycling reliability with only 5\% strain degradation over 106 electrical cycles, positioning it as a promising candidate for precision micro-actuators applications requiring ultra-stable, high-efficiency electromechanical responses. {\textcopyright} 2026 Elsevier Ltd.",

keywords = "Electrostrictive, Local structural heterogeneity, PNN-PZ-PT, Relaxor ferroelectric, Strain",

author = "Qinghu Guo and Ting Wang and Jinglong Fan and Yimang Zhao and Xiangyu Meng and Xiaoyi Gao and Zhonghua Yao and Weiping Gong and Hanxing Liu and Hua Hao and Shujun Zhang",

year = "2026",

month = jun,

day = "4",

doi = "10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2026.118583",

language = "English",

volume = "46",

journal = "Journal of the European Ceramic Society",

issn = "0955-2219",

publisher = "Elsevier B.V.",

number = "15",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - High electrostrictive strain in Nd-doped Pb(Ni1/3Nb2/3)O3-PbZrO3-PbTiO3 ceramics

AU - Guo, Qinghu

AU - Wang, Ting

AU - Fan, Jinglong

AU - Zhao, Yimang

AU - Meng, Xiangyu

AU - Gao, Xiaoyi

AU - Yao, Zhonghua

AU - Gong, Weiping

AU - Liu, Hanxing

AU - Hao, Hua

AU - Zhang, Shujun

PY - 2026/6/4

Y1 - 2026/6/4

N2 - Electrostrictive ceramics are crucial for high-precision actuators due to their low hysteresis, fast response, and low heat dissipation. In this work, Nd3+ was strategically employed to optimize the electrostrictive properties of x Nd-doped Pb(Ni1/3Nb2/3)O3-PbZrO3-PbTiO3 (PNN-PZ-PT) ceramics. A phase transition from the morphotropic phase boundary to a cubic structure, accompanied by enhanced dielectric relaxor behavior was observed with increasing Nd content, which can be attributed to the disruption of long-range ordered ferroelectric domains caused by aliovalent Nd doping-induced local structural heterogeneities—thereby reducing strain hysteresis and enabling improved electrostrictive response. Notably, outstanding electrostrictive strain of 0.105% and high electrostrictive coefficient M33 = 10.5 × 10−16 m2/V2 were obtained under a 10 kV/cm for the 3%Nd-doped PNN-PZ-PT ceramic, superior to other relaxor ferroelectric ceramics. Additionally, this composition exhibits outstanding cycling reliability with only 5% strain degradation over 106 electrical cycles, positioning it as a promising candidate for precision micro-actuators applications requiring ultra-stable, high-efficiency electromechanical responses. © 2026 Elsevier Ltd.

AB - Electrostrictive ceramics are crucial for high-precision actuators due to their low hysteresis, fast response, and low heat dissipation. In this work, Nd3+ was strategically employed to optimize the electrostrictive properties of x Nd-doped Pb(Ni1/3Nb2/3)O3-PbZrO3-PbTiO3 (PNN-PZ-PT) ceramics. A phase transition from the morphotropic phase boundary to a cubic structure, accompanied by enhanced dielectric relaxor behavior was observed with increasing Nd content, which can be attributed to the disruption of long-range ordered ferroelectric domains caused by aliovalent Nd doping-induced local structural heterogeneities—thereby reducing strain hysteresis and enabling improved electrostrictive response. Notably, outstanding electrostrictive strain of 0.105% and high electrostrictive coefficient M33 = 10.5 × 10−16 m2/V2 were obtained under a 10 kV/cm for the 3%Nd-doped PNN-PZ-PT ceramic, superior to other relaxor ferroelectric ceramics. Additionally, this composition exhibits outstanding cycling reliability with only 5% strain degradation over 106 electrical cycles, positioning it as a promising candidate for precision micro-actuators applications requiring ultra-stable, high-efficiency electromechanical responses. © 2026 Elsevier Ltd.

KW - Electrostrictive

KW - Local structural heterogeneity

KW - PNN-PZ-PT

KW - Relaxor ferroelectric

KW - Strain

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105044304190

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105044304190#tab=impact

U2 - 10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2026.118583

DO - 10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2026.118583

M3 - RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal

SN - 0955-2219

VL - 46

JO - Journal of the European Ceramic Society

JF - Journal of the European Ceramic Society

IS - 15

M1 - 118583

ER -