Lead zirconate titanate (PZT) (52/48) powders were prepared by a sol-gel process, using different raw materials to introduce the lead component together with several solvents and chemical modifying agents. A study of the effect of these variables on crystallization behavior was conducted to determine the best conditions for preparing monophasic submicrometer-sized PZT perovskite powders in the morphotropic region. In the present work, well-crystallized, submicrometer-sized single-phase perovskite PZT powders were obtained after heat treatment at 600 degrees C for 1 h. The dependence of this crystallization temperature on the preparation conditions was observed. The sol-gel-derived submicrometer-sized PZT powders were sintered to similar to 96% of relative density after 2 h at 950 degrees-970 degrees C. The sintered ceramics exhibited a dielectric permittivity of 1000, a piezoelectric coefficient of 135 pC.N-1, a remanent polarization of 20 mu C.cm(-2), and a coercive field of 10.6 kV.cm(-1).