Effects of starting materials and V₂O₅ additions on low-temperature sintering and dielectric properties of zinc titanate ceramics

Zinc titanate ceramics were prepared by conventional mixed-oxide method combined with a semi-chemical processing. The influences of raw materials upon the low-temperature sintering of ceramics and the effects of V₂O₃ addition on the microstructures and dielectric properties of ZnTiO₃ ceramics were investigated. The results showed that the low-temperature sintering of ceramics were very sensitive to raw materials, especially for TiO₂. Another result showed that the densification temperature of ZnTiO₃ ceramics could be reduced from 1100°C to 875°C with increasing of V₂O₃ addition. The phase transition temperature from hexagonal ZnTiO₃ phase to cubic Zn₂TiO₄ was also lowed by adding of V₂O₅, and the presented second phase affected the dielectric properties of ceramics seriously, The quality factor (Q) of V₂O₃-doped zinc metatitanate-based ceramics in microwave region decreased significantly compared to that of the single-phase hexagonal ZnTiO₃ ceramics, while the dielectric constant (ε_r) increased.