Preparation, characterization and sintering behaviour of Sr doped PbZrO3 powders by self-propagating combustion method

The Sr doped PbZrO3 (Pb1-xSrxO3; x = 0, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15 and 0.20) ceramics have been prepared by glycine-nitrate self-propagating combustion technique. The ceramic powders have been heat treated at 800 deg C for 6 h in order to get phase pure compounds. The prepared powders are characterized by XRD, density and BET surface area measurements. The XRD patterns obtained on these powders show the formation of pure orthorhombic phase of PbZrO3 without any impurities. Thin sections of circular components of these powders, made by uniaxial compression, are subjected to annealing at different temperatures in the range 900-1100 deg C for 2 h in order to throw light on their sintering behaviour. The surface morphology of the sintered components are studied by SEM. (author)