Reactive-Templated Grain Growth of Bi1/2(Na,K)1/2TiO3: Effects of Formulation on Texture Development

In this paper we report the effects of formulation on texture development for the “reactive‐templated grain growth” (RTGG) of Bi1/2(Na,K)1/2TiO3 (BNKT). The solids formulation for BNKT was systematically varied by prereacting to well—defined alkali and bismuth titanates (Na2Ti3O7 (N2T3), K2Ti2O5 (K2T2), and Bi2Ti4O11 (B2T4)). Use of these precursors in different BNKT formulations determined that the amount of expansion associated with reacting dry‐pressed compacts at 600−800°C could be influenced by formulation. Lotgering factors (F00l) derived from Θ/2Θ X‐ray diffraction scans indicated that the formulation route strongly affected the {00l} texture development in tape‐cast and sintered specimens. Prereacting alkali carbonates with TiO2 to form N2T3 and K2T2 inhibited texture development in RTGG‐processsed BNKT. However, when Bi2O3 was prereacted to form B2T4, the measured F00l increased from 0.5 to 0.7.