Abstract
Barium titanate (BaTiO3) powders were prepared by hydrolysis of Ba-Ti bimetallic alkoxides containing octyl groups. The as-prepared BaTiO3 particles were amorphous in submicron size (-0.5μm). Crystalline BaTiO3 particles were obtained on preheating at 393K in a flow of oxygen/water vapor mixed gas and successive heating at 673K in oxygen atmosphere. The introduction of water vapor suppressed the formation of BaCO3, resulting in the formation of highly crystalline BaTiO3. The microstructure of BaTiO3 bodies sintered at 1573K exhibited grain sizes of 10-15 μm. They showed dielectric constant of about 2500 and the loss tangent of about 0.02 at the room temperature (1kHz).
