Composites of 0.3Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O-3-0.7Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O-3 prepared by a sol-gel method

Lead magnesium niobate (PMN)-lead zirconium titanate (PZT) electroceramic composites have been fabricated from PMN powder + PZT powder (P-P processing) and PMN powder + PZT solution (P-S processing) using a sol-gel process. The particle sizes of PMN-PZT powder prepared by P-S processing were more than three times greater (> 1 mu m) in comparison with that of P-P processed powder which was 0.3 mu m. The grain size, density, and relative permittivity of PMN-PZT ceramics prepared by P-S processing were larger than those of P-P processed samples. The specimen sintered at 1230 degrees C by P-P processing exhibited similar properties to the specimen sintered at 1170 degrees C by P-S processing. Ceramics prepared from a PMN core enclosed in a PZT shell using a polymerized solution mixed at molecular level (powder + solution processing) showed better structural and dielectric properties compared to samples processed with mixed sol-gel powders.