Abstract

Translucent barium titanate (BaTiO₃) ceramics with a relative sintered density of 85% have been successfully produced via a powderless sol–gel method, in which transparent, partially-crystallized BaTiO₃ monolithic xerogels (dried gels) were prepared and submitted to sintering at 1100 °C in an oxygen atmosphere. The transparent BaTiO₃ xerogels turned opaque upon sintering at temperatures in the range 600 to 1000 °C, but sintering at 1100 °C resulted in the formation of translucent bodies. Pore size distribution measurements demonstrate that most pores present in the translucent materials are open pores with a diameter of <10 nm.