Preparation of shape controlled SrTiO3 crystallites by sol–gel-hydrothermal method

A sol–gel-hydrothermal method has been adopted to synthesize the shape-controlled SrTiO3 crystallites. A series of shape evolutions of SrTiO3 crystallites varied gradually from the unfeatured conglomeration through eight-pod star-shaped particles to cubic crystals and have been recorded based on transmission electron spectroscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observations. The faster growth rate along [1 1 1] direction in the SrTiO3 lattice resulted in the (1 1 1) plane disappearing, while (1 0 0) plane remained to form SrTiO3 cubes owing to the relative lower growth rate. The experimental results suggest that the building blocks with desired architecture can be selectively synthesized by programming the growth conditions in the initial synthetic scheme.