CRYSTALLIZATION AND GROWTH-PROCESS OF LEAD TITANATE FINE PARTICLES FROM ALKOXIDE-PREPARED POWDERS

Lead titanate particles of controlled size around the nanometer range were prepared by hydrolyzing a mixture of the constituent metal alkoxides. The hydrolysate powder was crystallized by calcination into a tetragonally distorted perovskite structure. The hydrolysate started to crystallize by calcination at 470 degrees C for one hour and the increase of the particle size due to the coalescence began at about 530 degrees C. The increase continued beyond 900 degrees C. The particle calcined at temperatures higher than 700 degrees C seemed to become poly-crystalline. X-ray analysis shows that the strain in the particle was less than 0.2%. The smallest size of a well crystallized particle was about 15 nm.