Antiferroelectric Phase Transition in PbZrO₃ Nanoparticles

Freestanding crystalline PbZrO₃ nanoparticles with an average size of 15 nm were synthesized by the modified sol–gel method and characterized by X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy. Dielectric studies indicated that the paraelectric to antiferroelectric phase transition in the PbZrO₃ nanoparticles was observed around at 205 C which was at 233 C for PbZrO₃ bulk material. A single leaky ferroelectric loop was observed instead of an antiferroelectric double hysteresis loop which may be because of the defects such as grain boundaries and the pores in the sample because the sample was not sintered at higher temperatures to retain the nanoscale dimension of the PbZrO₃ particles.