Synthesizing nanocrystalline Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O-3 powders from mixed oxides

The attempt to synthesize a Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O-3 (PZN) powder of perovskite st ructure via both traditional ceramic and chemistry-based novel processing r outes over the last three decades has failed. Difficult-to-synthesize nanoc rystallite PZN powders have, for the first time, been successfully prepared via a mechanochemical reaction either among PbO, ZnO, and Nb2O5 or between PbO and pre-reacted ZnNb2O6 from ZnO and Nb2O5 for more than 15 h in a hig h-energy mechanochemical reaction chamber, The resulting PZN powders exhibi t a well-established perovskite structure and their crystallite sizes are i n the range of 10 to 15 nm, as has been indicated from the peak broadening of X-ray diffraction and direct observation using a high-resolution transmi ssion electron microscope.