Structural and electrical properties of low temperature sintered PZT ceramics

PZT ceramics are usually sintered at higher sintering temperature (> 1250°C). Low temperature sintering has been required to dwindle the energy utilization and environmental pollution caused by volatization of lead oxides. Hence an effort was made to carry out low temperature sintering of La doped PZT ceramics by adding sintering aid, LiBiO2 (LiCO3 + Bi2O3). X-ray diffraction and microstructural studies were carried out to confirm the phase formation and densification behavior of PZT after addition of sintering aids. The addition results in low sintering temperature (1000°C) with dielectric constant of 1900 and piezoelectric charge coefficient of 350 pC/N.