Pore structure-dependent pyroelectric properties of porous PZT ceramics fabricated by template method

Abstract

Porous pyroelectric ceramics offer significant potential in energy harvesting and thermal sensing applications, yet systematic studies focusing on the influence of pore morphology on pyroelectric performance remain limited. In this work, porous lead zirconate titanate (PZT) ceramics with four distinctly designed pore structures (unidirectional, bidirectional, radial, and random) were fabricated via freeze-casting techniques. Comprehensive analyses including microstructural characterization, pyroelectric and ferroelectric measurements, and finite element modeling were conducted to elucidate the relationship between pore architecture and pyroelectric properties. The results demonstrate that bidirectionally freeze-cast ceramics possess superior pyroelectric responses, exhibiting significantly enhanced pyroelectric current densities and coefficients compared to other pore structures. Finite element simulations reveal that the optimized anisotropic pore morphology in bidirectional samples significantly enhances thermal conductivity and pyroelectric potential distribution. Practical device-level evaluations further validate that the bidirectional pore architecture achieves the highest pyroelectric power figure of merit, current responsivity, and detectivity under periodic thermal stimuli. This systematic investigation not only addresses the critical knowledge gap regarding pore-structure-dependent pyroelectric properties but also provides valuable guidelines for the design of high-performance pyroelectric devices.