Phase formations during mechanochemical synthesis of PbTiO3

Lead titanate nanopowders were fabricated by mechanochemical synthesis from lead oxide and titanium dioxide. The milling process has been carefully investigated by X-ray diffraction and X-ray excited photoelectron spectroscopy. The first traces of perovskite phase were detected after 5 h synthesis. It was found that intermediated phases (Ti10O18 and Pb3O4) have been formed at the early stage of synthesis. The 50 h milling results in single perovskite phase with average crystallite size of 20 nm.