Flash sintering of Lead Zirconate Titanate (PZT) with minimal lead oxide loss and enhanced dielectric properties

Generally, a high temperature (>1100(degrees)C) is required to sinter Lead Zirconate Titanate (PZT) ceramics. Such a high sintering temperature results in significant lead oxide evaporation which is a major environmental problem due to its toxicity. In this work, we have performed flash sintering of Lead zirconate Titanate (Pb (Zr0.5Ti0.5) O-3)) using a novel setup and compared the phase and microstructural evolution, dielectric, piezoelectric properties and lead loss with conventionally sintered Lead zirconate Titanate (PZT). The lead oxide evaporation has been reduced by 5-10 times compared to conventionally sintered PZT. Results also show that the flash-sintered samples' dielectric constant is about six times higher than the conventionally sintered samples with similar dielectric loss. Ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties of flash sintered PZT on the other hand are lower than conventionally sintered PZT. The mechanisms behind the anomalous properties are discussed using structural and microstructural observations.