Fabrication of aligned crystal BaTiO₃ nano-rod array by two-step hydrothermal synthesis and its piezoelectricity evaluation

Abstract

Barium titanate (BaTiO₃) is an environment-friendly piezoelectric material because, it does not contain lead like PZTs, but further improvement of its piezoelectric properties is expected. In this study, aligned crystal BaTiO₃ nanorod arrays of about 3 μm height were fabricated through two-step hydrothermal syntheses. In the first synthesis, aligned crystal titanium dioxide (TiO₂) rod arrays were grown on an FTO substrates, then in the second synthesis, TiO₂ was converted into BaTiO3 while keeping rod array structure. Furthermore, the relative permittivity and piezoelectricity were evaluated.