Glycothermal process for barium magnesium tantalate nanopowders synthesis

Barium magnesium tantalate Ba(Mg1/3Ta2/3)O3 (BMT) nanopowders were synthesized at a low temperature of 220 °C through glycothermal reaction by using Ba(OH)2·8H2O, Mg(NO3)·6H2O, and TaCl5 as precursors and 1,4-butanediol as solvent. It is demonstrated that higher synthesis temperatures and co-precipitation of magnesium and tantalum improve the incorporation of magnesium into BMT nanopowders under glycothermal treatment and produce a homogeneous, stoichiometric powder. The glycothermally derived BMT nanopowders are very reactive and provide a high-density sintered body with 97.1% of theoretical density at a low temperature of 1350 °C. The average grain size of the sintered ceramics was 1.2 ± 0.2 μm and relatively uniform in comparison with the ceramics sintered with powders produced from the conventional method.