Analysis of Ca-PZT powder obtained by the Pechini and partial oxalate methods

Abstract

Ca-Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 (Ca-PZT) powders were prepared by a combined method, Pechini technique for the intermediate ZrTiO4 (ZT) particles and oxalate route for the final powder. The intermediate and final products were characterized by X-ray diffraction and BET for phase identification and granulometric analysis, respectively. The surface area of ZT powder reduced remarkably from 70 to 7.4 m2/g when the calcining temperature increased from 600 to 800 °C. Incremental pore volume and average pore diameters of the powder calcined at 700 °C for 3 h were 0.026 cm 3/g and 70 Å, respectively. Ca-PZT powder calcined at 800 °C for 3 h, with agglomeration factor (AF) 2.8, showed no hysteresis in BET analysis, which indicate small agglomeration without micropores among particles. The powder calcined at 750 °C for 3 h, however, exhibited small AF and high sinterability.