Effect of oxidant-to-fuel ratios on phase formation of PLZT powder; prepared by gel-combustion

Single phase, PLZT powder was synthesized using gel-combustion route. It has been observed that fuel-to-oxidant ratio affects the initial phase formation. Higher fuel content leads to direct formation of crystalline perovskite PLZT powder due to substantial rise in the temperature during the redox reaction. Perovskite PLZT phase formation takes place at 550 °C, without any intermediate phase formation, for stoichiometric fuel-to-oxidant ratio. The crystallite size was found to be independent of fuel-to-oxidant ratio when the ash is heated above 700 °C.