Structural and physical properties of undoped and Ag-doped NaTaO3 synthesized at low temperature

Undoped and Ag-doped NaTaO3 materials were synthesized via a sol-gel method using sodium hydroxide, tantalum (V) ethoxide, and silver nitrate as precursors. Both samples were thermally treated at 600 °C, for 6 h. Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), ultraviolet (UV) diffuse spectra, scanning electron microscopy (SEM/EDX), BET (Brunauer, Teller) surface area, and electrical measurements are used to characterize various properties of the obtained materials. The average crystallite size was 50.2 nm for undoped NaTaO3 and 37.2 nm for Ag-doped NaTaO3. Electrical measurements have confirmed a typical semiconductor behavior of the obtained materials, with electrical band gap about 0.82 eV for undoped sample and 1.04 eV for Ag-doped sample.