Sol-Gel Processing of PbTiO3 Ceramic Fibers

The sol-gel method was applied to the preparation of PbTiO3 fibers. The Pb(CH3COO)2⋅3H2O and Ti(O⋅i-C3H7)4 were brought into reaction in 2-methoxyethanol to form oligomeric Pb-Ti complex alkoxide. The obtained alkoxide was then hydrolyzed in alcoholic solutions by adding a limited amount of water. The gel fibers were drawn from the resulting spinnable sol and converted to tetragonal PbTiO3 fibers by heating above 500°C. The crystallization behavior of gels and some properties of the resultant fibers were examined.