Preparation and properties of barium titanate glass-ceramics sintered from sol–gel-derived powders

Homogeneous Ba–Ti–B–Si, Ba–Ti–Al–Si and Ba–Ti–B gels have been successfully prepared by the sol–gel process. A novel method is presented for fabricating barium titanate glass-ceramics by sintering the gel powders with small barium titanate crystallites. The structural development, grain size, crystallization process and dielectric properties were systematically studied by differential thermal analysis, thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray diffraction techniques, scanning electron microscopy and dielectric measurements. The glass-ceramic samples were sintered at lower temperatures compared to the barium titanate ceramic sintering, and showed improved dielectric properties. It was found that the small size effect of the barium titanate grains on the dielectric constant in the glass-ceramics was quite evident. Ferroelectric hysteresis loop analyses were also performed to manifest the ferroelectric nature of the barium titanate grains in situ grown from the gels. This revised version was published online in November 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.