Hydrothermal Synthesis and Crystal Growth Studies of BaTiO₃ Using Ti Nanotube Precursors

The hydrothermal synthesis of barium titanate particles by reaction of titanate layered nanotubes and barium hydroxide in aqueous solution at 90, 110, and 200 °C from 1 to 24 h has been studied. Anisotropic growth of barium titanate particles was observed when the synthesis temperature was 90 °C resulting in the formation of pseudo-cubic BaTiO 3 single-crystal particles with a “wild”-type dendritic shape. Synthesis at 110 °C led to the formation of round-shaped, pseudo-cubic, and tetragonal BaTiO 3 particles. At 200 °C, single-crystal barium titanate “seaweed”-type dendritic particles with predominantly tetragonal structure were obtained. This study demonstrates that the anisotropic growth of barium titanate crystals can be controlled by manipulating the temperature and time of reaction and highlights the influence of the synthesis parameters on the anisotropic growth of BaTiO 3 crystals under hydrothermal conditions when using layered titanates with nanotube morphology as Ti precursor.