Polymer-assisted hydrothermal synthesis of single crystal Pb1-xLaxTiO3 nanorods

Single-crystal PbxLa1-xTiO3 (PLT) nanorods of various La concentrations have been synthesized by polymer-assisted hydrothermal method. The nanorods have diameters of 25-60 nm and average lengths of 3 pm. With tetragonal lattices structures, the PLT nanorods grow along the (001) direction. As La concentration increasing, the tetragonality c/a decreases and the Raman mode E(1TO) becomes softening. PLT nanorods with various lengths and diameters have been prepared by using different polymer additives. To fabricate well-crystallized nanorods, an annealing process after the hydrothermal treatment is proved to be necessary. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.