A comprehensive study on some binders for piezo-electric ceramics

Abstract

Binders play a vital role in formulating piezoelectric materials. A number of binders such as poly (vinyl alcohol) [PVA], methocel, starch, hydroxy propyl methyl cellulose [HPMC], hydroxy ethyl cellulose [HEC], poly vinyl pyrrolidone [PVP], gum-arabic, and polyethylene glycol [PEG] have been studied for solubility, viscosity, <i>p</i>H, thermal behaviour and ash content incorporating them in a standard PZT formulation. Further, the resulting PZTs have been studied for green density, sintered density, shrinkage characteristics, microstructure, compressive strength and electrical properties. The generated data indicate that PVA is a potential candidate as a binder for this purpose.