Preparation and characterization of high textured KSr2Nb5O15 lead-free piezoelectric ceramics

Anisometric KSr2Nb5O15 (KSN) particles were synthesized by molten salt method with SrCO3, Nb2O5 and KCl as raw materials. With K2CO3, SrCO3 and Nb2O5 starting materials, KSN lead-free piezoelectric ceramics were prepared by conventional ceramics technique and reactive templated grain growth (RTGG) method, respectively. In the RTGG process, green compacts were fabricated by tape-casting using anisometric KSN as template particles. The KSN particles prepared by molten salt method were rodlike in shape and dense. The KSN ceramics prepared by RTGG not only had higher degree of grain orientation but higher sintered density compared with that prepared by solid-state reaction.