Investigation on the microstructure and ferroelectric properties of porous PZT ceramics

In the present work, porous lead zirconate titanate (PZT) ceramics were fabricated by introducing pore-forming agent polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and sintering green compacts at low temperature. The phase, the microstructure, and the ferroelectric properties of the prepared ceramics were characterized. The correlation of microstructure with ferroelectric properties was discussed. The porosity increased with increase in the added PMMA content at a given sintering temperature or decreasing the sintering temperature at a fixed added PMMA content. The dielectric constant and the dielectric loss of the investigated samples decreased with increase in the frequency. The dielectric constant decreased and the dielectric loss increased with the increase in the addition content of PMMA at fixed frequency and sintering temperature. At same porosity, the sample with macropores showed lower dielectric constant and dielectric loss, compared to the sample with micropores. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l. All rights reserved.