Synthesis of (K0.5Bi0.5)0.4Ba0.6TiO3 nanowires and ceramics by sol-gel-hydrothermal method

(K0.5Bi0.5)(0.4)Ba0.6TiO3 nanowires have been fabricated by a sol-gel-hydrothermal method at 200 degrees C. X-ray diffraction result shows that the nanowires have a tetragonal perovskite structure. Transmission electron microscopy investigations exhibit that the as-prepared nanowires are single crystalline grains with diameters of about 40 nm and lengths reaching up to 800 nm. The (K0.5Bi0.5)(0.4)Ba0.6TiO3 ceramics with a relative density of 97% can be fabricated from the high quality nanowires even by a conventional sintering process, which showed that typical characteristics of relaxor ferroelectrics, the indicator of degree of diffuseness gamma and Curie temperature T-C (100 kHz), were 1.65 and 220 degrees C, respectively. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.