Effects of different processing parameters on structure of Ba1-xSrxTiO3 powders synthesized via nonhydrolytic sol-gel method

The rapid development of miniaturization and refinement of modern electronic components has led to higher requirements for nanosized powders. The barium strontium titanate (Ba1-xSrxTiO3, BST) nanopowders with fine grains, uniform particle size and high purity have broad application prospects. Herein, BST nanopowders were synthesized via nonhydrolytic sol-gel method and the effects of different processing parameters on structure were investigated systematically by using X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, laser particle size analyser and thermogravimetric mass spectrometry. In the first step, different dispersants, dispersant concentration and calcination temperature were selected for synthesis of Ba0.6Sr0.4TiO3 powder to find optimal conditions. In the second step, these optimal conditions were used to synthesize BST powders, but different (Ba+Sr)/Ti and Ba/Sr molar ratios were used to find those that can enable preparation of single phase cubic perovskite powder. Therefore, this study showed how the processing parameters can be systematically tuned with the idea to obtain ultra-fine single phase BST nanoparticles.