Preparation of heterostructured Ag/BaTiO3 nanofibers via electrospinning

Unique Ag/BaTiO3 heterostructured nanofibers with a diameter of about 100 nm and coupled Ag nano-particles in the size range from several to 15 nm have been successfully fabricated by a facile electrospinning method. It was found that small and homogeneously distributed Ag nano-particles could decrease the crystallization temperature of BaTiO3 nanofibers to a much lower value compared with bulk BaTiO3 ceramics. The mechanism of the effect of Ag addition on BaTiO3 crystallization is accordingly analyzed and discussed. Besides, I–V curve of Ag/BaTiO3 nanofibers was also measured. The addition of Ag sharply increases the conductivity of BaTiO3 nanofiber. The results may be benefit for the future study of one-dimensional heterostructured dielectric nano-materials.

Research highlights▶ We successfully fabricated Ag/BaTiO3 one-dimensional heterostructured dielectric nano-materials by a facile electrospinning method. ▶ The addition of Ag nano-particles is found to significantly decrease the crystallization temperature of BaTiO3 nanofibers. ▶ The conductivity of BaTiO3 nanofiber was increased by Ag addition.