Advanced Functional Materials, 2026; 36:e23909

Additive manufacturing has opened new avenues for geometric customization and functional integration of piezoelectric ceramics, yet conventional methods face irreconcilable conflicts between ultrahigh solid-loading and microscale precision, fundamentally limiting their electromechanical performance and structural-sensing fidelity. Here, this work presents a precision 3D printing strategy based on ultrahigh solid loading (90 wt.%), achieving minimal defect BaTiO3 piezoelectric ceramics with synchronized enhancement of functional and mechanical properties through optimized rheological behavior. This approach attains optimized piezoelectric coefficient (d33 > 240 pC N−1) and mechanical robustness (compressive strength > 340 MPa), delivering overall performance comparable to conventional dry-pressed ceramics. Simultaneously, the process enables high-resolution fabrication of monolithic devices (<5 mm edge length) incorporating sub-200 µm critical features. Crucially, a general design framework programs 3D-orthotropic sensing into architected triply periodic minimal surface (TPMS) microstructures through parameterized symmetry-breaking. This process converts tailored mechanical anisotropy, combined with a fixed poling direction, into orthogonal sensitivity gradients and structural-signal fidelity. The resulting sensing platforms demonstrate high sensitivity (0.42 V N−1), high linearity (R2 > 0.999), near-zero delay with waveform synchronism, and power density (>68 µW cm−3), enabling orthotropic force discrimination along three orthogonal axes for autonomous microsystems. This work advances the manufacturing paradigm for high-performance piezoelectric ceramics, offering scalable potential for microsensors and energy harvesters.

Peipei Wang, Yaxiang Sun, Wei Zhao, Xin Lan, Yanju Liu, Jinsong Leng

Programmable 3D‐Orthotropic Piezoceramic Sensors Enabled by Solid‐Loading‐Maximized Additive Manufacturing_compressed.pdf