Synthesizing Nanocrystalline Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3 Powders from Mixed Oxides

Abstract

The attempt to synthesize a Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3 (PZN) powder of perovskite structure via both traditional ceramic and chemistry-based novel processing routes over the last three decades has failed. Difficult-to-synthesize nanocrystallite PZN powders have, for the first time, been successfully prepared via a mechanochemical reaction either among PbO, ZnO, and Nb2O5 or between PbO and pre-reacted ZnNb2O6 from ZnO and Nb2O5 for more than 15 h in a high-energy mechanochemical reaction chamber. The resulting PZN powders exhibit a well-established perovskite structure and their crystallite sizes are in the range of 10 to 15 nm, as has been indicated from the peak broadening of X-ray diffraction and direct observation using a high-resolution transmission electron microscope.