A comprehensive study on some binders for piezo-electric ceramics

Binders play a vital role in formulating piezoelectric materials. A number of binders such as poly (vinyl alcohol) [PVA], methocel, starch, hydroxy pr opyl methyl cellulose [HPMC], hydroxy ethyl cellulose [HEC], poly vinyl pyr rolidone [PVP], gum-arabic, and poly ethylene glycol [PEG] have been studie d for solubility, viscosity, pH, thermal behaviour and ash content incorpor ating them in a standard PZT formulation. Further, the resulting PZTs have been studied for green density, sintered density, shrinkage characteristics , microstructure, compressive strength and electrical properties. The gener ated data indicate that PVA is a potential candidate as a binder for this p urpose.