Barium titanate ceramics prepared from conventional and microwave hydrothermal powders

Microwave-hydrothermal (MH) synthesis of BaTiO3 was done at 138 degrees C with reaction time as low as 15 min, using Ba(NO3)(2), TiCl4 and KOH as starting chemicals. The resulting powder was pressed into pellets and sintered at different temperatures. BaTiO3 ceramics prepared by the above method resulted in a density of about 93% upon sintering at 1300 degrees C/2 h with larger grains and room temperature relative permittivity of 2000 at 1 kHz with a Curie temperature of 125 degrees C. The above properties were compared with samples of the same composition prepared by conventional hydrothermal (CH) method using the same starting solutions. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.