Preparation of PZT powders and ceramics via a hybrid method of sol–gel and ultrasonic atomization

✍ Scribed by Z.J. Xu; R.Q. Chu; G.R. Li; Xin Shao; Q.R. Yin

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2005
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 272 KB
• Volume: 117
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0921-5107
• DOI: 10.1016/j.mseb.2004.10.019

✦ Synopsis

Lead zirconate titanate (PZT) (52/48) powders were synthesized by a hybrid method of sol-gel and ultrasonic atomization. X-ray diffraction (XRD) results showed that perovskite phase of PZT is formed at 400 • C. This temperature is much lower than the calcination temperatures (500-900 • C) required by other processes. Phase-pure PZT powders were obtained at 700 • C. The PZT ceramics sintered at 1150 • C for 4 h exhibited a relative density of 98.5%, a piezoelectric coefficient of 221 pC/N, a remnant polarization of 24.1 C/cm 2 , and a coercive field of 10.1 kV/cm. Moreover, we used ZrO 2 as the starting material in this study, which is much cheaper than that used in sol-gel process, thus leading to a cost-effective approach possible for industrial fabrications of PZT materials. This method is also believed to be applicable to other Zr-containing materials.