Influence of Dispersion Medium and Precipitating Agent on Sol and Gel Formation of Lead Zirconate-titanate Ceramic Precursor

In the present paper, we report data on the influence of choice of dispersion medium-precipitating agent pair on sol–gel process for lead zirconate-titanate ceramic precursor manufacturing. Acetic acid and 2-methoxyethanol were studied as dispersion media, whereas ethylene glycol and water as respective precipitating agents. Changes in optical, rheological properties and particle size distributions during the sol–gel transition were studied at different concentrations of precipitating agents. It was shown that the nature and relative concentration of dispersion medium and precipitating agent provide wide-range control of lead zirconate-titanate sol and gel properties as well as the rate of sol–gel process, mechanism of formation and structure of the gels.