Effect of drying temperature on the characteristics of the lead zirconium titanate powders prepared by sol-gel process

Abstract

Pure pervoskite phase Pb1.15(Zr0.53Ti 0.47)O3(PZT) powders were prepared by a chelating acetate sol-gel process. Powders obtained from two different heating temperatures, namely as-dried H.T powders (573 K/30 min) and as-dried L.T powders (423 K/ 10h) were analyzed. Both the powder samples were investigated by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-1R), Differential Thermal Analysis/ Thermal Gravimetric Analysis (DTA/TGA) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). The combined results indicated that as-dried H.T powders contained a higher mole fraction of acetate groups and that the polycondensation was slower, resulting in a smaller particle size. H.T series is a better, shorter, low-budget, and more energy-economic procedure compared with the conventional heating procedure.