Study of solid state reactions in the PZT ceramic prepared by sol-gel technique

Ferroelectric Pb(Zr_xTi_1-x)O₃ (PZT) powders have been successfully prepared by the sol-gel technique from titanium butoxide and zirconium ethoxides and anhydrous lead acetate. Solid state reactions have been investigated by means of differential thermal analysis, X-ray diffraction, and IR. Experimental results indicated that the formation of PZT by the sol-gel technique is a one-step process. It is quite different from that of the conventional method in which the formation of PZT was shown to be a three-step process. A hypothetical model is proposed to explain the one-step process of the solid-state reaction of PZT, and it is shown that these powders possess a lower calcining temperature and high activity