Effect of microwave on distribution of Zr4+ and Ti4+ during sol–gel synthesis of ZrTiO4 nanoparticles

Zirconium titanate, ZrTiO4 nanoparticles were prepared by citrate sol–gel method. The microwave field was utilized after the sol–gel processing for drying of these nanoparticles. The nanoparticles prepared under these conditions were characterized for structural details by powder XRD and TEM techniques. XPS and Raman spectroscopic techniques were extensively used to study the structure- property co-relationship in these particles. The particle size effect and the atomic position variation due to replacement of Zr by Ti atom was estimated. The broadening of Raman bands is ascribed to local compositional fluctuations or local positional disordering produced due to random distribution of Zr4+ and Ti4+ between equivalent sites. The X-ray photo electron spectroscopy (XPS) spectra confirm the incorporation of Ti in ZrO2 and suggests Zr as well as Ti in +4 oxidation state. Average particle size of synthesized ZrTiO4 was found to be ∼2–5 nm.

► We aim to develop a cheap and fast microwave assisted synthesis of ZrTiO4 nanoparticles.
► ZrTiO4 nanoparticles were synthesized by simple and most convenient microware assisted citrate gel method.
► Microwave field was utilized after the sol-gel processing for drying of nanoparticles.
► Broadening of Raman bands ascribed to compositional fluctuations of Zr4+ and Ti4+ between equivalent sites.