This study investigates the effect of MnO2 and CuO as acceptor additives on the microstructure and piezoelectric properties of 0.96(K0.5Na0.5)0.95Li0.05Nb0.93Sb0.07O3-0.04BaZrO3, which has a rhombohedral-tetragonal phase boundary composition. MnO2 and CuO-added 0.96(K0.5Na0.5)0.95Li0.05Nb0.93Sb0.07O3-0.04BaZrO3 ceramics sintered at a relatively low temperature of 1020 oC show a pure perovskite phase with no secondary phase. As the addition of MnO2 and CuO increases, the sintered density and grain size of the resulting ceramics increases. Due to the difference in the amount of oxygen vacancies produced by B-site substitution, Cu ion doping is more effective for uniform grain growth than Mn ion doping. The formation of oxygen vacancies due to B-site substitution of Cu or Mn ions results in a hardening effect via ferroelectric domain pinning, leading to a reduction in the piezoelectric charge coefficient and improvement of the mechanical quality factor. For the same amount of additive, the addition of CuO is more advantageous for obtaining a high mechanical quality factor than the addition of MnO2.

Manganese dioxide (MnO2) is one of the most important cathode materials used in both aqueous and non-aqueous batteries. The MnO2 polymorph that is used for lithium primary batteries is synthesized either by electrolytic (EMD-MnO2) or chemical methods (CMD-MnO2). Commonly, electrolytic manganese dioxide (EMD) is used as a cathode mixture material for dry-cell batteries, such as a alkaline batteries, zinc-carbon batteries, rechargeable alkaline batteries, etc. The characteristics of lithium/manganese-dioxide primary cells fabricated with EMD-MnO2 powders as cathode were compared as a function of the parameters of a manufacturing process. The flexible primary cells were prepared with EMD-MnO2, active carbon, and poly vinylidene fluoride (PVDF) binder (10 wt.%) coated on an Al foil substrate. A cathode sheet with micro-porous showed a higher discharge capacity than a cathode sheet compacted by a press process. As the amount of EMD-MnO2 increased, the electrical conductivity decreased and the electrical capacity increased. The cell subjected to heat-treatment at 200˚C for 1 hr showed a high discharge capacity. The flexible primary cell made using the optimum conditions showed a capacity and an average voltage of 220 mAh/g and 2.8 V, respectively, at 437.5μA.