effect of polymeric additives on the rheological behavior of pzt pastes for extrusion fiber processing: optimization by taguchi method

This study investigates the rheological behavior and microstructural characteristics of pb(zr,ti)o₃ (pzt) fibers fabricated via extrusion. using commercial soft pzt powder, polymeric additives, and an organic solvent, paste formulations were optimized through a taguchi experimental design. the optimal composition, 5 wt.% pvb, 0.5 wt.% dbf, 0.8 wt.% sa, and 70 wt.% solid loading, achieved a viscosity of 15548 mpa·s, enabling stable extrusion. increasing the dbf content to 2.5 wt.%, further enhanced flowability, reducing the required force and yielding a microstructure with significantly reduced surface porosity—from approximately 25% to 5.5%. after sintering at 1250 °c for 2 hours, the fibers exhibited a crack-free, homogeneous microstructure with uniformly distributed grains, as confirmed by sem and edax analyses.these findings demonstrate that precise control of paste formulation and processing parameters enables the production of high-quality pzt fibers suitable for piezoelectric applications, highlighting the industrial potential of the proposed method.