The effective synthesis of large volumes of the ultrafine BaZrO3 nanoparticles

Abstract

BaZrO3 perovskite nanoparticles constitute a material desired for various advanced applications e.g. as artificial pinning centers in high-temperature superconductors or for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution. In this contribution, a novel method of synthetic for ultra-fine, pristine, non-stabilized free-surface nanoparticles of BaZrO3 is described. The method is based on the wet chemical approach and can yield large quantities of the desired product. The synthesized BaZrO3 nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, X-ray fluorescence, and high-resolution transition electron microscopy. The analyses confirmed particle size in the range of 10–12 nm. Among its possible applications, the usage of such synthesized BZO in YBa2Cu3O7-δ superconductors is particularly interesting, because of the sizes of nano BZO, which is ideal for artificial pinning centers in single-domain YBa2Cu3O7-δ superconducting ceramics composites. The effect of YBa2Cu3O7-δ doping by BaZrO3 was studied by various measurements including morphology probed by scanning electron microscopy, measuring of trapped field, levitation force, and susceptibility of the prepared YBa2Cu3O7-δ single grain bulks. The synthesis method of ultra-fine BaZrO3 nanoparticles can be useful not only for applications in high-temperature rare-earth-based superconductors but also for a multitude of other applications also because of relative affordability and the possibility of synthesis of larger volumes of this material.