There has been considerable progress in the development of large strain lead-free perovskite ferroelectrics over the past decade. Under certain conditions, the electromechanical properties of some compositions now match or even surpass commercially available lead-containing materials over a wide temperature range, making them potentially attractive for non-resonant displacement applications. However, the phenomena responsible for the large unipolar strains and piezoelectric responses can be markedly different to classical ferroelectrics such as Pb(Zr,Ti)O ₃ and BaTiO ₃ . Despite the promising electromechanical properties, there is little understanding of the mechanical properties and fracture behavior, which is crucial for their implementation into applications where they will be exposed to large electrical, mechanical, and thermal fields. This work discusses and reviews the current understanding of the mechanical behavior of large-strain perovskite lead-free ferroelectrics for use in actuators and provides recommendations for further work in this important field.

The temperature evolution of polar order in an $A$-site complex perovskite $(\mathrm{B}{\mathrm{i}}_{1/2}{\mathrm{K}}_{1/2})\mathrm{Ti}{\mathrm{O}}_3$ (BKT) has been investigated by measurements of dielectric permittivity, depolarization current, and stress-stain curves at elevated temperatures. Upon cooling from high temperatures, BKT first enters a relaxor state and then spontaneously transforms into a ferroelectric state. The analyses of temperature and frequency dependence of permittivity have revealed that polar nanoregions of the relaxor phase appear at temperatures higher than $560{}^{\circ }\mathrm{C}$, and also that their freezing at $296{}^{\circ }\mathrm{C}$ triggers the spontaneous relaxor-ferroelectric transition. We discuss the key factors determining the development of long-range polar order in $A$-site complex perovskites through a comparison with the relaxor $(\mathrm{B}{\mathrm{i}}_{1/2}\mathrm{N}{\mathrm{a}}_{1/2})\mathrm{Ti}{\mathrm{O}}_3$. We also show that application of biasing electric fields and compressive stresses to BKT favors its ferroelectric phase, resulting in a significant shift of the relaxor-ferroelectric transition temperature towards higher temperatures. Based on the obtained results, electric field-temperature and stress-temperature phase diagrams are firstly determined for BKT.