Synthesis and crystallization of lead–zirconium–titanate (PZT) nanotubes at the low temperature using carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as sacrificial templates

Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 (PZT) nanotubes with diameters of 80–100 nm and a wall thickness of 15–20 nm were prepared by sol–gel template technique and using multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) as sacrificial templates. The coating process of MWCNT with PZT precursor sol and removal of the carbon nanotubes by an interrupt heat treatment were discussed and studied by Raman spectroscopy. Simultaneous thermal analysis (STA) revealed that PZT nanotube crystallized at the low temperature of 410 °C by the significantly low activation energy of crystallization of 103.7 kJ/mol. Moreover, based on the X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern and selected area electron diffraction pattern the crystal structure of the PZT nanotube was determined as perovskite. High resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM) and field-emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) images proved that the final PZT had a tubular structure.