Bismuth zinc niobate pyrochlores Bi1.5ZnNb1.5O7 (alpha-BZN), and Bi2(Zn1/3Nb2/3)2O 7 (beta-BZN) have been synthesized by chemical method based on the polymeric precursors. The pyrochlore phase was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry, infrared spectroscopy, and X ray diffraction. Powder and sintered pellets morphology was examined by scanning electron microscopy. The study of alpha-BZN phase formation reveals that, at 500 °C, the pyrochlore phase was already present while a single-phased nanopowder was obtained after calcination at 700 °C. The crystallization mechanism of the beta-BZN is quite different, occurring through the crystallization of alpha-BZN and BiNbO4 intermediary phases. Both compositions yielded soft agglomerated powders. alpha-BZN pellets, sintered at 800 °C for 2 hours, presented a relative density of 97.3% while those of beta-BZN, sintered at 900 °C for 2 hours, reached only 91.8%. Dielectric constant and dielectric loss, measured at 1 MHz, were 150 and 4 x/10-4 for a-BZN, and 97 and 8 x 10-4 for beta-BZN.
Pechini; microwave dielectrics; Bi2O3-ZnO-Nb2O5; powder; chemical method
