Dielectric properties of lead zirconium titanates with nanometer size grains synthesized by the citrate precursor route

Monophasic oxides of the formula, PbZrxTi1−xO3 (0.0≤x≤0.75) were obtained at temperatures close to 500 °C from polymeric precursors formed using citric acid and ethylene glycol. The oxides were found to be tetragonal for lower values of x and rhombohedral for x=0.75. X-ray line broadening studies along with transmission electron microscopy (TEM) show grain size in the range 50–60 nm for all the compositions. The dielectric constant of the above oxides increases with increase in Zr substitution and has a maximum value (ε=235) for PbZr0.75Ti0.25O3. The dielectric loss varies from 0.005 at 100 kHz and increases to 0.13 at 500 kHz.