Structural investigation of boron undoped and doped indium stabilized bismuth oxide nanoceramic powders

The synthesis of boron undoped and doped indium stabilized bismuth oxide nanoceramic powders via the polymeric precursor technique were described. The physical properties of the precursor polymer solutions (pH, surface tension, viscosity and conductivity) were measured. The morphological and structural characteristics of the nanoceramic powders were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy ( FTIR). The lattice constant, average particle size, microstrain and dislocation density of the samples were calculated. The results show that the average particle size decreased while both the microstrain and the dislocation density values increased in the boron doped indium stabilized bismuth oxide. The structure proposed from FTIR spectra is mainly based on BiO6 and BiO3 units.