Study on grain growth kinetics of BaTiO ₃ templates for ceramic texturing prepared in different molten salt systems

In this paper, the BaTiO 3 (BT) templates of textured piezoelectric ceramics were prepared by a three-step molten salt method. The relationship between the growth kinetics and the grain size of BT templates constructed under different molten salt conditions, sintering temperature and holding time was explored. The classical Sellars model was employed to study the grain growth dynamics of BT-BaCl 2 (BaCl 2 -KCl molten salt system) and BT-NaCl (NaCl-KCl molten salt system). The activation energy (Q =109715.24 J/mol) and grain growth index (n =9.47) with BT-BaCl 2 are lower than those of BT-NaCl(Q =145156.70 J/mol, n =28.65), its application to BCZT piezoelectric ceramics yields an ultrahigh texture degree of 97.8%, which results in its excellent performance. This study indicated that the BT-BaCl 2 is more effective in promoting grain-oriented growth than the BT-NaCl.