Characterizations and electrical properties of ZrTiO4 ceramic

ZrTiO4 in nano-dimension is prepared through the auto ignited combustion techniques. The synthesized material is characterized by XRD, vibrational spectroscopy, UV–vis spectroscopy, TEM and SEM. The XRD pattern shows that compound has crystallized in the orthorhombic structure with space group Pbcn and the particle size is obtained as 11.98 nm. FT Raman and FTIR spectra indicate the presence of Zr and Ti octahedron and tetrahedron in the compound. The particle size is estimated from the TEM image as 14 nm. Tauc's plot of the optical absorption spectrum gives the optical band gap energy to be 2.88 eV. SEM image of the sample sintered at 1480 °C for 2 h indicates minimum porosity with 91% of the theoretical density. Dielectric properties in the radio and microwave frequencies are measured. At 1 MHz, ɛr = 37.42, G = 7.49 × 10−7 S and tan δ = 10−2 and at 5.23 GHz, ɛr = 36.11, Q × f = 20,026 GHz and τf = 70.7 ppm/K. Dielectric and electrical property measurements in the temperature range 50–250 °C indicate that ZrTiO4 is very stable and can be utilized over wide range of temperatures and frequencies. Ionic conduction and grain boundary effect impart high conductivity to the material. Nanocrystalline ZrTiO4 can be used as electrolytes in solid oxide fuel cells.

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► Nanoparticles of orthorhombic ZrTiO4 is synthesized by a modified combustion process.
► Optical band gap energy determined is 2.88 eV.
► ɛr = 36.11 and Q × f = 20,026 GHz at 5.23 GHz and τf is 70.70 ppm/K.
► Activation energy for grain and grain boundary conduction are 1.42 eV and 1.40 eV.
► Suitable as electrolyte in SOFC, communication systems.