Synthesis of strontium titanate nanoparticles using supercritical water

Abstract

Strontium titanate (SrTiO3) nanoparticles were synthesized using supercritical water (SCW). Three different TiO2 precursors were tested to check on the product size and morphology. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns showed that the TiO2 precursor particle size had a crucial impact on the formation of SrTiO3 in terms of phase purity. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis showed agglomerated cubic nanoparticles with a size range of 10 - 50 nm. CaTiO3 and BaTiO3 were also synthesized for comparative study in the formation processes of perovskite structures in SCW. SrTiO3 was found to be the most difficult to synthesize due to TiO2 and metal carbonate formation. However, pure SrTiO3 nano-particles were synthesized using TiO2 precursor with an average size of 21 nm. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l. All rights reserved.