Size-controlled hydrothermal synthesis of monodispersed BaZrO3 sphere particles by seeding

•Monodispersed BaZrO3 spheres were prepared by hydrothermal reactions.•The particle diameter was gradually controlled from 0.20 μm to 3.5 μm by seeding.•The seed-mediated BaZrO3 sphere proceeded by a simple seed growth mechanism.•A Zr-TEOA complex played an important rule to form the uniform BaZrO3 spheres.

Monodispersed barium zirconate (BaZrO3) fine particles with a spherical shape have been synthesized by hydrothermal reactions using barium hydroxide and a Zr-triethanolamine (TEOA) complex. The particle mean diameter was gradually controlled in a range from 0.20 μm to 3.5 μm by change in the added amount of seed nanoparticles. The mechanistic characterization of the seed-mediated BaZrO3 sphere synthesis revealed that the particle growth obeyed a simple seed growth mechanism. In the present system, utilization of the Zr-TEOA complex played an important rule to prevent uncontrollable nucleation to form the uniform BaZrO3 fine particles with narrow size distributions.

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