Sol-gel processing of PbTiO3 and Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 fibers

Abstract

Homogeneous and stoichiometric PbTiO3 and PbZr0.52Ti0.48O3 gel fibers were drawn from viscous solutions prepared by sol-gel processing of alkoxide precursors. The fibrous gels on heating at 450 and 600 °C, respectively, formed the well-crystallized phases of PbTiO3 and PbZr0.52Ti0.48O3. Fibers heat treated at 700 °C are a few centimeters long and 50 to 150 μm in diameter. PbZr0.52Ti0.48O3 fibers subjected to heat treatment at 700 °C for 1 h consisted of fully dense submicron grains (0.15 to 0.2 μm). However, PbTiO3 fibers under analogous conditions showed a few micropores with grains of ∼0.1 μm. Dielectric constants of these PbTiO3 and PbZr0.52Ti0.48O3 fibers were approximately 300 and 800, respectively.