Influence of sonication time on the structure and electrical properties of Na2Ti6O13 ceramics: An approach applying the Mott-Schottky model

In the past years, semiconductive sodium titanate material has been widely studied due to its diverse applications and advantageous physico - chemical properties. In this direction, the present work reports the effect of sonication time on the structural and electrical properties of sodium titanate (Na2Ti6O13) ceramics. In addition, Mott-Schottky model is used to reveal the semiconductive characteristics of the Na2Ti6O13 ceramic samples. The samples are produced by sonochemical route, using sonication times of 15 and 60 min. X-ray diffraction analyses of the samples determine the presence of a single phase, corresponding to the monoclinic Na2Ti6O13 phase. Crystallites size, calculated by the Scherrer method, are 44.83 (55) nm and 39.45 (69) nm for 15 and 60 min sonicated samples, respectively. The electrical characterization of these samples, performed by Complex Impedance Spectroscopy, reveals a decrease in resistivity with increasing sonication time; while the Mott-Schottky model provides information about the semiconductive behavior of the samples. Flat band potential of 1.1 V and 0.92 V and charge carrier densities of 1.09 x 10(13) cm(-3) and 0.92 x 10(13) cm(-3) are determined for those samples.