SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF LEAD ZIRCONATE BY HOMOGENEOUS PRECIPITATION AND CALCINATIONS

Lead Zirconate ceramics are technically and commercially important piezoelectric materials. It is an antiferroelectric ceramic. The antiferroelectric (AFE) to ferroelectric transition, under the application of a strong electric field, leads to significant energy storage for a dc field. This feature of PbZrO3 makes it a candidate material for energy storage applications. In the present study, the synthesis of the lead zirconate from water-soluble salts of Pb and Zr (chlorides) is done by homogeneous precipitation via urea decomposition. The gradually pH increase obtained by the decomposition of urea, with the steady supply of OH andCO3 2ions, typically leads to the precipitation of metal hydroxyl carbonates of controlled particle morphology. The X-ray diffraction and Scanning electron microscopy were performed for the confirmation of the obtained Lead Zirconate precipitate. In this project work experiments are conducted for different volumes of solution of lead chloride and zirconium oxy-chloride in order to obtain the precipitates of Lead zirconate and to study its properties.