Abstract
Xerogels from a highly concentrated Ba-Ti alkoxide precursor solution using the methanol/2-methoxyethanol mixed solvent system are known to be suitable for preparation of translucent barium titanate ceramics and nanostructured freestanding films by direct sintering of the gels. In this study, influence of dissolved state of heterobimetallic alkoxides BaTi(OMe)4(OEt)(OEtOMe) in the highly concentrated precursor solutions on the mesostructure of xerogels has been investigated. The molar electric conductivity of the precursor solutions decreased drastically in the concentration range of 0.6 to 1.2mol/l, which shows there are few ionic species resulting from dissociation of bimetallic alkoxide molecules in the highly concentrated precursor solution. Increased precursor concentration resulted in stoichiometric gels with considerably uniform mesoscaled pore channels.
