Large-scale engineered synthesis of BaTi[O.sub.3] nanoparticles using low-temperature bioinspired principles

• Published in: Nature protocols Vol. 6; no. 1; pp. 97 - 104
• Main Authors: Ould-Ely, Teyeb, Luger, Matthew, Kaplan-Reinig, Lyle, Niesz, Krisztian, Doherty, Michael, Morse, Daniel E
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Nature Publishing Group 01.01.2011
• Subjects: Atomic properties; Biotechnology; Chemical synthesis; Composition; Methods; Nanoparticles; Production processes; Titanium compounds; United States
• ISSN: 1754-2189; 1750-2799
• DOI: 10.1038/nprot.2010.138

We report here a robust, large-scale synthesis of BaTi[O.sub.3] nanopowders using a bioinspired process that first was developed on a much smaller scale. The most advantageous points of this protocol are that it takes place at nearly room temperature (25°C), overcomes many limitations encountered in other scale-up processes (such as the need for external drivers, e.g., heat, radiation or pressure), bypasses the use of surfactants and templates and does not necessitate pH adjustment. The use of a single-source, bimetallic alkoxide with the vapor diffusion of a hydrolytic catalyst ([H.sub.2]O) provides the necessary conditions for facile crystallization and growth of small, well-defined BaTi[O.sub.3] nanoparticles at mild temperatures, yielding batches of up to 250 ± 5 g in a green process. Extension of this method to kilogram-scale production of BaTi[O.sub.3] nanocrystals in semicontinuous and continuous processes is feasible.