Microstructure and optical characterizations of mechanosynthesized nanocrystalline semiconducting ZrTiO4 compound

A ZrO2-TiO2 solid solution is obtained by high energy ball milling of equimolar mixture of monoclinic (m) ZrO2 and anatase (a) TiO2. Nanocrystalline orthorhombic ZrTiO4 compound is initiated from the nucleation of TiO2-ZrO2 solid solution with isostructural s-TiO2 (srilankite) base after 30 min of milling. After 12 h of milling, 95 mol% non-stoichiometric ZrTiO4 phase is formed. Post-annealing of 12 h ball-milled powder mixture at 1073 K for 1 h in open air results in complete formation of stoichiometric ZrTiO4 compound. Microstructures of all powder mixtures milled for different durations have been characterized by Rietveld's structure and microstructure refinement method using X-ray powder diffraction data. HRTEM images of 12 h milled and annealed samples provide direct evidence of the results obtained from the Rietveld analysis. Optical bandgaps of ball milled and annealed ZrTiO4 compounds lie within the semiconducting region (similar to 2.0 eV) and increases with increase in milling time. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.