Preparation of ferroelectric barium titanate through an energy effective solid state ultrasound assisted method

Barium titanate submicronic particles were prepared, for the first time, by a solid-state reaction route, where the classical ball grinding/mixing and drying steps were replaced by ultrasonication and microwave assisted processes, respectively, resulting in significant reduction in both drying duration and temperature of the thermal treatment. The structure of the prepared samples was analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray powder diffraction, while the morphology and particle size were followed by means of scanning electron microscopy and dynamic light scattering. Dielectric properties were evaluated in the frequency range of 106-10−2 Hz. The obtained results showed that the employed synthesis process leads to well-defined tetragonal phase BaTiO3 particles with relatively high tetragonality and average particle diameter of around 500 nm. The study on the dielectric behavior reveals that the obtained materials are appropriate for applications as passive electronic elements. The goal of the paper is to demonstrate the effectiveness of the ultrasonic treatment in the preparation of well-defined perovskite-like BaTiO3 particles by a solid-state process.