Impact of surfactants on Pb (Zr0.53Ti0.47) O3 nanocrystal formation

In this article, we studied how surfactants can impact Pb (Zr0.53Ti0.47) O3 (PZT) nanocrystal formation to result in interesting nanohexagon and nanorod shapes of PZT crystal. The PZT nanohexagons/nanorods with typical diameters and bounding lengths within the nanometer range were synthesized by sintering the mixture of PZT crystals. After annealing at 800 1C for 3 h, PZT nanohexagons were formed with Tween 20. Using the same sol–gel method and growth condition but with Tween 20 replaced by Triton X-100, PZT nanocrystals were formed having nanorod shapes. Their single-crystalline nanostructures and compositions were confirmed by high resolution transmission electronic microscopy (HR-TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman Spectra. The results of this study demonstrated new insight on how surfactants impact the morphology of PZT formation. & 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.