Evolution of Lead Titanate Nanostructures from Nanoparticle Self-Assembly

Ferroelectric nanostructures are promising building blocks for advanced electromechanical devices. In this paper, we report a hydrothermal synthesis of PbTiO3 nanoring and nanoring-nanowire hybrid structures. Evolution of the nanoring structure was suggested to be caused by the self-directed assembly of PbTiO3 nanoparticles, where polarization of the ferroelectric nanoparticles might direct the epitaxial arrangement. Vertically aligned NWs were grown epitaxially on the surfaces of the nanorings following the same morphological patterns. All the morphologies were found to s multaneously coexist due to the continuous nucleation and crystal growth during the entire growth period. This research pre ented a new growth behavior of ferroelectric nanocrystals from a wet-chemistry method. Understanding of the growth mechanism would enhance our capability of controlled synthesizing ferroelectric perovskite nanostructures at large scales and with low cost.