Microwave-hydrothermal synthesis and characterization of barium titanate powders

The synthesis of barium titanate (BaTiO3) has been investigated under microwave-hydrothermal (M-H) conditions in the temperature range of 60–160°C using BaCl2, and TiCl4 as Ba, and Ti sources, respectively. The crystallized products were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), scaning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and particle-size analysis techniques. The results showed the crystallization of BaTiO3 phase at all the synthesis temperatures along with the formation of BaCO3 as a minor impurity. The crystallization of BaTiO3 powder having an average crystallite size of 0.3 μm with CO32− content of 0.8% was achieved at 160°C in the presence of 10 M NaOH in 3 h. These results show that the M-H synthesis route is rapid, cost effective, and could serve as an alternative to obtain BaTiO3 powders with submicron particle size.