Pyroelectric composites based on LaBSiO5 stillwellite

Synthesis of ferroelectric materials by glass crystallisation is attractive to produce both high-quality textures and composites. In the present work, composites based on ferroelectric stillwellite-like LaBSiO5 and glasses having compositions near to compounds Pb5Ge3O11, PbLiPO4 and PbBPO5 were synthesised and their dielectric and pyroelectric properties examined. A pyroelectric coefficient of about 0.5 nC/cm2 K may be obtained by liquid-phase sintering of pellets. Preliminary data on crystallisation processes of the lead-containing glasses as well as on the chemical interactions between stillwellite-like LaBSiO5 and glasses at the sintering temperature are reported.