Growth Mechanism and Self-assembly Process of SrTiO₃ Nanocubes by Selective Adsorption of Oleic Acid Molecules

Abstract

In order to achieve the 3-Dimensional (3D) superlattice SrTiO₃ (STO)-based thermoelectric material which was theoretically predicted to show a high ZT at room temperature, it is important to tune the well-defined grain size and morphology of electron doped STO. In this work, we prepared La-doped STO nanocubes via sol-precipitation coupled with hydrothermal treatment, with various La doping levels from 0 to 20 %, either with or without the use of various amounts of oleic acid as a capping agent for self-assembly, to investigate the mechanisms of nanocube growth and self-assembly. Those samples were characterized by XRD, TEM, SAED and FT-IR.