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Effect of sol-gel preparation method on particle morphology in pure and nanocomposite PZT thin films

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Abstract

Double-scale composite lead zirconate titanate Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 (PZT) thin films of 360 nm thickness were prepared by a modified composite sol-gel method. PZT films were deposited from both the pure sol and the composite suspension on Pt/Al2O3 substrates by the spin-coating method and were sintered at 650°C. The composite suspension formed after ultrasonic mixing of the PZT nanopowder and PZT sol at the powder/sol mass concentration 0.5 g mL−1. PZT nanopowder (≈ 40–70 nm) was prepared using the conventional sol-gel method and calcination at 500°C. Pure PZT sol was prepared by a modified sol-gel method using a propan-1-ol/propane-1,2-diol mixture as a stabilizing solution. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis indicated that the thin films possess a single perovskite phase after their sintering at 650°C. The results of scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analyses confirmed that the roughness of double-scale composite PZT films (≈ 17 nm) was significantly lower than that of PZT films prepared from pure sol (≈ 40 nm). The composite film consisted of nanosized PZT powder uniformly dispersed in the PZT matrix. In the surface micrograph of the film derived from sol, large round perovskite particles (≈ 100 nm) composed of small spherical individual nanoparticles (≈ 60 nm) were observed. The composite PZT film had a higher crystallinity degree and smoother surface morphology with necklace clusters of nanopowder particles in the sol-gel matrix compared to the pure PZT film. Microstructure of the composite PZT film can be characterized by a bimodal particle size distribution containing spherical perovskite particles from added PZT nanopowder and round perovskite particles from the sol-matrix, (≈ 30–50 nm and ≈ 100–120 nm), respectively. Effect of the PZT film preparation method on the morphology of pure and composite PZT thin films deposited on Pt/Al2O3 substrates was evaluated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Materials Research, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Watsonova 47, 040 01, Košice, Slovakia

    Helena Bruncková, Ľubomír Medvecký & Pavol Hvizdoš

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  1. Helena Bruncková
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  2. Ľubomír Medvecký
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  3. Pavol Hvizdoš
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Correspondence to Helena Bruncková.

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Bruncková, H., Medvecký, Ľ. & Hvizdoš, P. Effect of sol-gel preparation method on particle morphology in pure and nanocomposite PZT thin films. Chem. Pap. 65, 682–690 (2011). https://doi.org/10.2478/s11696-011-0051-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/s11696-011-0051-0

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