A facile sol-gel approach to synthesize KNN nanoparticles at low temperature

Potassium sodium niobite nanoparticles (KNN-NPs) were synthesized using sol-gel method. A solution of K, Na, and Nb cations was prepared using gelatin as a stabilizer which resulted a clear gel after thermal treatment. The obtained gel was first analyzed by thermogravometric analyzer (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and then calcined at different temperatures of 500, 600, 700, and 800 degrees C. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns of the synthesized samples confirmed formation of the orthorhombic crystal phase of KNN-NPs at 500 degrees C. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations showed a cubic morphology of KNN-NPs. Our results revealed that gelatin is an excellent candidate to be used as stabilizer for preparing nanoparticles of complex compounds including KNN-NPs. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.