Sinterability and Piezoelectric Properties of KNbO3Ceramics after Substituting Pb and Na for K

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Potassium niobate (KNbO 3 ) ceramics are usually porous due to their poor sinterabilty under ordinary firing in air, although the single crystal exhibits a large amount of piezoelectricity. We found a marked improvement in the sinterability of KNbO 3 ceramics on substituting a small amount of Pb for K. However, the amount of piezoelectricity of the ceramics was small due to their fine grains (< 0.2 µm). In order to realize large grains, we substituted Na and Pb for K, and fired the ceramics for long periods of time.