Preparation of the Pb(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃ films by aqueous tape casting

Lead magnesium niobate (PMN) is a relaxor ferroelectric material. Because of its high dielectric constant and superior electrostrictive properties it is commonly used in the manufacture of multilayer electronic devices which is typically produced by tape casting. However, preparation of PMN slurry formulations to use in aqueous tape casting process is not investigated in detail yet. Therefore, in this study aqueous PMN formulations were developed for tape casting and its relation with the final properties of PMN films were investigated. The slurries were prepared using poly(acrylic acid)-based comb polymer as the dispersant, nonionic acrylic latex as the binder and the hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose as the wetting agent. The results showed that it is possible to prepare flexible, crack-free PMN films using highly concentrated suspensions without using any plasticizer. The study gives guidelines for the aqueous tape casting of PMN and can be adapted to processing of other multi-component metal oxides.