Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering, Vol.13, No.2, 225-233, 2005
Low temperature one-step synthesis of barium titanate: Thermodynamic modeling and experimental synthesis
A thermodynamic model has been developed to determine the reaction conditions favoring low temperature direct synthesis of barium titanate (BaTiO3). The method utilizes standard-state thermodynamic data for solid and aqueous species and a Debye-Huckel coefficients model to represent solution nonideality. The method has been used to generate phase stability diagrams that indicate the ranges of pH and reagent concentrations, for which various species predominate in the system at a given temperature. Also, yield diagrams have been constructed that indicate the concentration, pH and temperature conditions for which different yields of crystalline BaTiO3 can be obtained. The stability and yield diagrams have been used to predict the optimum synthesis conditions (e.g., reagent concentrations, pH and temperature). Subsequently, these predictions have been experimentally verified. As a result, phase-pure :perovskite BaTiO3 has been obtained at temperature ranging from 55 to 85 ° C using BaCl2, TiCl4 as a source for Ba and Ti, and NaOH as a precipitator.