Effects of composition ratio on structure and phase transition of ferroelectric nanocomposites from silicon dioxide nanoparticles and triglycine sulfate

The present work is devoted to study on influences of silicon dioxide nanoparticles (SiO2) on structure and phase transition of a classical ferroelectric of triglycine sulfate (TGS) by synthesizing a composite containing SiO2 and TGS at different composition weight ratios. Particle size analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) techniques were utilized to charaterize the synthesized composite. The experiments for investigation of phase transition were conducted from 20 to 120 degrees C under a weak electric field (1 V.cm(-1)) at 1 kHz. The results revealed an expansion of ferroelectric phase of TGS by 15-55 degrees C with increasing the SiO2 content. Besides, an additional phase transition point which is characteristic for the bulk clusters of TGS was found at low content of SiO2. The detected anomalies were discussed thoroughly based on the interaction between components in the composite.