Growth Mechanism, Modified Morphology and Optical Properties of Coral-like BaTiO3 Architecture through CTAB Assisted Synthesis

Abstract

Three-dimensional hierarchical structure coral-like BaTiO3 nanoparticles have been self-assembled by a facile one step hydrothermal method. Cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB), Ba(OH)2·8H2O and tetrabutyl titanate have been used as precursors. The prepared BaTiO3 exhibits cubic perovskite phase at room temperature, and the coral-like architecture is a micro-nano hiberarchy consisted of dendrimer-like structure and trunk-like structure. By adjusting the hydrothermal duration and the precursor substances, a surfactant induced mechanism is proposed to understand the self-assembly process. UV-vis measurement demonstrates that the as-prepared BaTiO3 nanoparticles exhibit dozens of times overwhelming absorptive character compared to the ordinary nanospheres at ultraviolet band, which is benefited from the coral-like porous framework. Moreover, halogen anions( F−, Cl−, Br−, and I−) have been chosen to adjust the coral-like BaTiO3 physical properties. Results show the halogen doping produces distinct modulation effect on the grain size, UV-vis absorbance and photoluminescence properties of the materials. The coral-like BaTiO3 nanoparticle and its halogen modified ramifications offer significant opportunities to develop nano-laser devices, photon detectors, photocatalyst based on BaTiO3 perovskite materials.