Anil Bhanudas Gaikwad

A coprecipitation technique to prepare NaNbO3 and NaTaO3

A simple coprecipitation technique has been used successfully for the preparation of pure, ultrafine, single phases of NaNbO3 (NN) and NaTaO3 (NT). An alcoholic solution of ammonium carbonate and ammonium hydroxide was used to precipitate Na+ and Nb5+ (or Ta5+) cations under basic conditions as carbonate and hydroxide, respectively. On heating at 700°C, these precursors produce respective products. For comparison, both NN and NT powders were also prepared by the traditional solid state method. The phase purity and lattice parameters were studied by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD). The particle size and morphology were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM).

A coprecipitation technique to prepare Sro.5Bao.5Nb206

An aqueous mixture of ammonium oxalate and ammonium hydroxide was used to coprecipitate barium and strontium ions as oxalates and niobium ions as hydroxide under basic conditions. This precursor on calcining at 750°C yielded Sr0.5Ba0.5Nb2O6 phase. This is a much lower temperature than that prepared by traditional solid state method (1000°C) as reported for the formation of Sr0.5Ba0.5Nb206 (SBN). Transmission electron microscopic (TEM) investigations revealed that the average particle size was 80 nm for the calcined powders. The room temperature dielectric constant at 1 kHz was found to be 1100. The ferroelectric hysteresis loop parameters of these samples were also studied.

Preparation of nanocrystalline Mg4Nb2O9 by citrate gel method

A gel was formed when a aqueous solution of Mg(NO3)2, NbF5 and citric acid in stoichiometric ratio was heated on a water bath. No precipitation was observed at acidic pH and gellation was complete with evaporation of the solvent. This gel on decomposition at 750°C produced nanocrystallites of ternary oxide, Mg4Nb2O9 (M4N2). The phase contents and lattice parameters were studied by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) at various temperatures. Particle size and morphology were studied by transmission electron spectroscopy (TEM). For comparison, M4N2 powders were also prepared by conventional ceramic route at 900°C.