Study on the addition of SiO2 nanowires to BaTiO3: Structure, morphology, electrical and dielectric properties

Abstract

The effects of adding silicon dioxide (SiO2) nanowires on the properties of barium titanate (BaTiO3) were investigated. The structure, morphology and optical properties were examined using X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and ultraviolet–visible diffuse reflectance spectrophotometry (DR). All of the prepared samples crystallized with a cubic BaTiO3 structure. When the SiO2 content was <2.0 wt%, no secondary phase was observed and the (BaTiO3)1–x/(SiO2)x samples exhibited a microstructure with small grains. However, Ba2TiSi2O8 was detected upon further increasing the SiO2 content. When compared to the pure BaTiO3 sample, a slight increase in the Eg value was observed for the (BaTiO3)1–x/(SiO2)x composites. The dielectric and electrical measurements were used to analyze the dielectric constant (ε′), dissipation factor (tan(δ)), conductivity (σac) and impedance (Z). The results demonstrate that the addition of SiO2 nanowires affects the properties of BaTiO3. The study highlights the importance of SiO2 nanowires in BaTiO3 for use in microwave device applications.