Molten salt synthesis of SrTiO3 nanocrystals using nanocrystalline TiO2 as a precursor

A molten salt method was proposed to synthesize SrTiO3 nanocrystals in the eutectic NaCl–KCl at 700 °C for 6 h, by using the homemade TiO2 nanocrystals and commercial Sr(NO3)2 powder as raw materials. Besides, a control experiment with the commercial TiO2 submicron-sized crystallites as a precursor was also conducted. The structure and composition of the obtained products were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results from XRD and XPS revealed the preparation of pure cubic phase SrTiO3 powders. The TEM observation demonstrated that the nanocrystalline TiO2 precursor played an important role in the current molten salt synthesis of SrTiO3 nanocrystals, which were likely formed by the template formation mechanism.