Rietveld refinement on XRD and TEM study of nanocrystalline PbZr0:5Ti 0:5O3 ceramics prepared with a soft chemistry route

PbZr0.5Ti0.5 O3 nanopowders (~27 nm) have been prepared by a controlled reconstructive thermal decomposition and crystallization from an amorphous polymeric precursor with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and sucrose at 400 to 700 °C in air. The Rietveld refinement of the XRD profiles which were recorded at room temperature for the PbZr0.5Ti0.5 O3 powder prepared by a thermal treatment at 700 °C for 2 h, confirmed the P4mm tetragonal crystal structure of the as prepared PbZr0.5Ti0.5 O3 nanopowders, with a = 0.4036 nm and c = 0.4147 nm. A hexagonal symmetry (R3c), with a = 0.5774 nm and c = 1.4212 nm, was also detected from Rietveld refinement analysis. Thus, tetragonal and hexagonal phases were found to coexist with the as prepared PbZr0.5Ti0.5 O3 nanopowders. The average particle size (D) of the PbZr0.5Ti0.5 O3 powders, estimated with the help of the specific surface area, measured by BET method, was 26.1 nm. Average D value, calculated by Δ2Θ1/2 in the XRD peaks with the Debye-Scherrer relation was ~24 nm. TEM study made it possible to measure the particle size of PbZr0.5Ti0.5 O3 powders with an average diameter of 27 nm.