Grain size effect on the dielectric and piezoelectric properties in compositions which are near the morphotropic phase boundary of lead zirconate-titanate based ceramics

A series of crystallized fine PZT powders (sub-micron) were prepared through conventional method. Through hot pressing and conventional sintering, a range of 0.18 to 3.95;The most important founding of this work is that for properly prepared samples of PZT ceramics there is little dependence of dielectric and piezoelectric properties on grain size over the range from 1;It is interesting to note that the appearance of domain pinning conventionally associated with acceptor doping in the conventionally sintered samples, which again disappears on hot pressing. In the donor (Nb) doped samples, even for conventional sintering the grain boundaries appear sharp, and the dielectric and piezoelectric-related properties do not begin to change until grain size well below 1...