Hydrothermal synthesis of lead zirconate titanate (PbZr0.52 Ti0.48O3) using organic mineralizers

A variety of organic bases has been identified as possible substitutes for inorganic alkali hydroxide and/or alkali halide mineralizers for the hydrothermal synthesis of ferroelectric perovskite ceramic materials. Thermodynamic modeling using newly developed software for automatic generation of stability and yield diagrams of the desired product phase was used to predict optimum conditions for precipitation of the phase-pure lead zirconate titanate with composition near the morphotropic phase boundary in the Pb-Zr-Ti-tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAOH) system. The predictions have been experimentally corroborated at 160°C using coprecipitated Zr/Ti gel and lead acetate as a source of zirconium/titanium and lead, respectively. Thermoanalytical techniques show that the TMAOH is completely removed from the final powder product by washing with deionized water