Facile synthesis of five strontium niobate metastable crystal compositions via sol-gel ionic liquid synthesis

Ionic liquid syntheses have proven proficiency in the production of metal oxides with diverse functionalities. In this work we use the potential of these solvents to form multicationic solutions to directly synthesize five strontium niobate metastable crystal compositions. Such metastable crystals are characterized via UV?Vis spectroscopy, inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer, powder X-Ray diffraction, highresolution transmission electron microscopy, and crystalline refinements. After characterization, all metastable crystalline structures were found to be strontium rich with Sr/Nb molar ratios Sr/Nb = 3.54, 3.23, 3.09, 2.66, and 2.22, and are found to be consistent with triclinic with space group P-1 (2).

Automated summary

The synthesis of strontium niobate metastable crystals using ionic liquids was successful, characterized by various analytical techniques, and all crystals were found to be strontium-rich and consistent with the triclinic space group P-1 (2).