Sol-gel synthesis of nanocomposite materials based on lithium niobate nanocrystals dispersed in a silica glass matrix

Journal Article · Fri May 15 00:00:00 EDT 2009 · Journal of Solid State Chemistry

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jssc.2009.02.022· OSTI ID:21370403

Marenna, Elisa ^[1]; Aruta, Carmela ^[2]; Fanelli, Esther ^[1]; Barra, Mario ^[2]; Pernice, Pasquale ^[1]; Aronne, Antonio ^[1]

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1. Dipartimento di Ingegneria dei Materiali e della Produzione, Universita di Napoli Federico II, Piazzale V. Tecchio, 80125 Napoli (Italy)
2. CNR-INFM Coherentia e Dipartimento di Fisica, Universita di Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario Monte S. Angelo, Via Cintia, 80126 Napoli (Italy)

With the final goal to obtain thin films containing stoichiometric lithium niobate nanocrystals embedded in an amorphous silica matrix, the synthesis strategy used to set a new inexpensive sol-gel route to prepare nanocomposite materials in the Li{sub 2}O-Nb{sub 2}O{sub 5}-SiO{sub 2} system is reported. In this route, LiNO{sub 3}, NbCl{sub 5} and Si(OC{sub 2}H{sub 5}){sub 4} were used as starting materials. The gels were annealed at different temperatures and nanocrystals of several phases were formed. Futhermore, by controlling the gel compositions and the synthesis parameters, it was possible to obtain LiNbO{sub 3} as only crystallizing phase. LiNbO{sub 3}-SiO{sub 2} nanocomposite thin films on Si-SiO{sub 2} and Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} substrates were grown. The LiNbO{sub 3} average size, increasing with the annealing temperature, was 27 nm for a film of composition 10Li{sub 2}O-10Nb{sub 2}O{sub 5}-80SiO{sub 2} heated 2 h at 800 deg. C. Electrical investigation revealed that the nanocrystals size strongly affects the film conductivity and the occurrence of hysteretic current-voltage curves. - Graphical abstract: Sol-gel synthesis of nanocomposite materials in the Li{sub 2}O-Nb{sub 2}O{sub 5}-SiO{sub 2} system is reported. The goal was to synthesize thin films containing lithium niobate nanocrystals embedded in a silica matrix. Starting from LiNO{sub 3}, NbCl{sub 5} and Si(OC{sub 2}H{sub 5}){sub 4,} it was possible to obtain LiNbO{sub 3} as only crystallizing phase, nanocrystals size was 27 nm for a film 10Li{sub 2}O-10Nb{sub 2}O{sub 5}-80SiO{sub 2} heated 2 h at 800 deg. C.

• OSTI ID: 21370403
• Journal Information: Journal of Solid State Chemistry, Vol. 182, Issue 5; Other Information: DOI: 10.1016/j.jssc.2009.02.022; PII: S0022-4596(09)00082-6; Copyright (c) 2009 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, All rights reserved.; ISSN 0022-4596
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY
ALUMINIUM OXIDES
ANNEALING
COMPOSITE MATERIALS
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
LITHIUM NITRATES
LITHIUM OXIDES
NANOSTRUCTURES
NIOBATES
NIOBIUM OXIDES
SILICA
SILICON OXIDES
SOL-GEL PROCESS
TEMPERATURE RANGE 1000-4000 K
THIN FILMS
ALKALI METAL COMPOUNDS
ALUMINIUM COMPOUNDS
CHALCOGENIDES
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES
FILMS
HEAT TREATMENTS
LITHIUM COMPOUNDS
MATERIALS
MINERALS
NIOBIUM COMPOUNDS
NITRATES
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
OXIDE MINERALS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
REFRACTORY METAL COMPOUNDS
SILICON COMPOUNDS
TEMPERATURE RANGE
TRANSITION ELEMENT COMPOUNDS