Factors Determining Grain Orientation in Bismuth Sodium Potassium Titanate–Lead Zirconate Titanate Solid Solutions Made by the Reactive Templated Grain Growth Method

Grain-oriented Bi_0.5(Na_0.85K_0.15)_0.5TiO₃-Pb(Zr_{1? x} Ti _x )O₃ (BNKT-PZT) ceramics were prepared via the reactive templated grain growth method, using platelike Bi₄Ti₃O₁₂ particles. Factors that determine the degree of orientation were examined. Prereacted PZT gave a larger degree of orientation than PZT raw materials (PbO, ZrO₂, and TiO₂) in the 75BNKT-25PZT ( x = 0.5) system. Increases in the titanium concentration in the PZT of the 75BNKT-25PZT system and in the BNKT concentration in the y BNKT-(100 ? y )PZT ( x = 0.5) system increased the degree of orientation. The direction of material transport between BNKT and PZT was important to obtain ceramics with a large degree of orientation.