Growth and characterization of NaNbO3 synthesized using reaction-sintering method

The mixture of raw materials for stoichiometric NaNbO3 was pressed and sintered into ceramics without any calcination stage involved. Pure NaNbO3 phase was obtained at sintering temperatures of 1100–1200 °C. The maximum linear shrinkage and the minimum porosity of the NaNbO3 sintered at 1200 °C was 22.9 and 1.6%. The activation energy of grain growth for 3 and 6 h was about 86.85 and 90.58 kJ/mol, respectively. When the sample was sintered at 1200 °C for 3 h, rhomb-shaped grains of NaNbO3 with well-defined edges were found similar to the ideal grain growth models.