Submicron and nanostructured 0.8Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3–0.2PbTiO3 ceramics by hot pressing of nanocrystalline powders

Nanocrystalline powders synthesized by mechanochemical activation were successfully used to process high-density submicron- and nanostructured 0.8Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3–0.2PbTiO3 perovskite phase ceramics by hot pressing, with average grain size ranging from 0.36 μm down to 88 nm. These materials are very suitable for studying the size dependence of the properties across the submicron range approaching the nanoscale. This is the first report of such a series of ceramic materials of a relaxor-based morphotropic phase boundary composition, and of its properties as a function of the grain size.