Preparation and Piezoelectricity of NaNbO 3 High‐Density Ceramics by Molten Salt Synthesis

Nanostructures of crystalline orthorhombic sodium niobate ( NaNbO 3 ) were synthesized by a molten salt synthesis procedure. As a comparison, an auxiliary experiment via conventional solid state reaction process was carried out simultaneously. The microstructure and morphology evolution of the synthesized nano particles were investigated in detail, and on the basis of the experimental results, an in situ transformation mechanism has been proposed to elucidate the formation processes of NaNbO 3 microstructures. It was found that both the initial shape of the Nb 2 O 5 and the dissolution rate of the initial precursors critically determine the final shapes of the products. Furthermore, the determined electrical properties of the as‐obtained products indicated that NaNbO 3 ceramic derived from nanostructures holds the real characteristic of ferroelectric and the polarization–electric field ( P–E ) hysteresis behavior is greatly influenced by the polarization treatment. The obtained NaNbO 3 ceramic after the polarizing treatment exhibited piezoelectric property, d 33 = 28 pC/N.