Dilatometric Analysis of Mechanically Activated SrTiO3 Powder

Strontium-titanate powder was mechanically activated in a planetary ball mill for 0, 5, 10, 30, 60, 90 and 120 minutes. Non-isothermal sintering of non-activated and activated SrTiO3 powder samples in the temperature interval from 50 to 1300 0C with three different heating rates (10, 15 and 20 0C/min) was investigated on a dilatometer. X-ray powder diffraction and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to determine the phase composition, lattice microstrains and microstructure morphology of the samples. XRD results showed the presence of new phases: SrCO3 (strontuim-carbonate) and TiO2 (anatase) after 30 minutes of mechanical activation