NaCl–H2O-assisted preparation of SrTiO3 nanoparticles by solid state reaction at low temperature

Abstract An environmentally friendly NaCl–H 2 O system was developed to synthesize monodisperse strontium titanate (SrTiO 3 ) nanoparticles from commercially available raw materials (SrCO 3 and rutile) by solid state reactions. The formation rate of SrTiO 3 was accelerated by the addition of NaCl and water vapor. Single phase SrTiO 3 was obtained by calcination at 700 °C for 2 h in water vapor (H 2 O flow rate of 2.0 mL/min) by the addition of 50 wt% NaCl, although 900 °C and 750 °C for 2 h were required to complete the reaction by calcinations in air and air by the addition of 50 wt% NaCl, respectively. The results demonstrate that both NaCl and H 2 O played vital roles to accelerate the formation of SrTiO 3 nanoparticles at relatively low temperature. On the basis of experiments and analysis, a rational growth mechanism has been proposed and discussed.