Lowering the sintering temperature of barium strontium titanate bulk ceramics by barium strontium titanate-gel and BaCu(B₂O₅)

In this paper the influence of barium strontium titanate (BST) xerogel as a sinter additive and BaCu(B$_{2}$O$_{5}$) (BCB) as a liquid phase sintering aid on the sintering behavior of BST bulk ceramics is investigated. BST as well as BCB powders were synthesized via a mixed oxide route and BST gel via a sol-gel process. Compared to pure BST bulk ceramics, BST gel reduces the sintering start (onset temperature) by up to 174°C and increases the density for a sintering temperature of 1200°C. By adding BCB to the BST powder the sintering was completed much faster and the onset temperatures were reduced by 281°C and 312°C for 1 mol. % and 2.5 mol. %, respectively. With 2.5 mol. % BCB, the highest density of 96 % (5.41 g∙cm$^{-3}$) was achieved at 950°C.