Synthesis of ferroelectric PZT fibers using sol–gel technique

We report the synthesis technique for fabrication of fine Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 (PZT) fibers via combination of sol–gel route and pulling method. It was found that spinning characteristics of PZT gel fibers were dependent upon the hydrolysis and molarity of the solution. Long gel fibers (meter scale) were drawn by hand-pulling method from the spinnable PZT sol. The fibers were sintered at 950 °C in air atmosphere and found to exhibit dense microstructure with electrical properties similar to that of bulk. High aspect ratio and homogeneous microstructure resulted in increased mechanical flexibility of sintered fibers.