Sintering of (K0.5Na0.5)NbO3 system with the addition of ZnO

In this study, the synthesis of lead-free (K0.5Na0.5)NbO3 (KNN), the effects of ZnO on sintering of KNN system and production of KNN which have superior piezoelectric properties, via Templated Grain Growth (TGG) method is investigated and the effect of composition and requirements to observe the textured microstructure are determined. KNN izotropic powders are synthesized by conventional solid state synthesis and requirements to get the observed phase are determined. Sodium niobate (NaNbO3) platelets, which are used to design the microstructure are produced by molten salt synthesis method. Sintering feature of the sodium potassium niobate was determined by using these powders. In addition to these, effects of platelet and zinc oxide addition to the sintering were determined. Addition of platelets retards the densification and 2 vol %. Platelet addition is the optimum platelet value to get the textured structure. Also, it was observed that zinc oxide addition diminishes the sintering temperature and makes an appropriate environment to get the textured structure. Optimum conditions are determined to get the textured sodium potassium niobate and at the end, textured, zinc oxide added sodium potassium niobate piezoelectric ceramic with high density was acquired.