Wet chemical synthesis of pure LiNbO3 powders from simple niobium oxide Nb2O5

Lithium niobate powders are synthesized by a wet chemical method using simple niobium oxide and lithium hydroxide as raw materials. In the synthesis process, niobium oxide is first activated into niobic acid by some chemical reactions; then citric acid coordinates with niobic acid to prepare stable Nb–citric acid complex, which further reacts with lithium hydroxide to form lithium niobate powders. X-ray diffraction, infrared spectra, and scanning electron microscopy are used to characterize the quality of the obtained LiNbO3 powders. The present work shows that the proper sintering temperature for lithium niobate gels should be around 600 °C, if pure lithium niobate are available.