Reaction sintering of lead zinc niobate-lead zirconate titanate ceramics

Lead zinc niobate (PZN)-lead zirconate titanate (PZT) ceramics were produced by the reaction-sintering process. The specimens were prepared directly from a mixture of their constituent oxides without any calcination step. When 50% PZN was added to tetragonal Pb(Zr0.47Ti0.53)O-3 ceramics, the densities and electrical properties were found to be optimal (rho = 7.91 g/cm(3), K = 1947 at 1 kHz and room temperature, d(33) = 530 pC/N, k(p) = 0.61). However, the specimen containing more than 50% PZN showed reduced density and decreased electrical properties, due to the formation of pyrochlore phases. The improved densification behavior of the reaction-sintering process was attributed to the enhanced diffusion of lattice defects, which were created by differences in the ionic valence of the B-sites ions of the perovskite structure. (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.