PbZr1-xTixO3 by soft synthesis:: Structural aspects

The structural aspects of a soft synthetic route employed to obtain fine crystallite PbZr1-xTixO3 (x=0,0.5,1) powders are revealed by total x-ray diffraction and atomic pair distribution function analysis. It is found that the atomic-scale structure of the intermediate, highly disordered phase the route passes through resembles but is not exactly of the targeted, perovskite-type structure. It is suggested that future synthesis efforts are directed toward closing the observed "structure gap" as much as possible.