Local structural distortion of BaZrxTi1−xO3nanocrystals synthesized at room temperature

Abstract

Single crystalline, sub-15 nm BaZr_xTi_1−xO₃ (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) nanocrystals were synthesized at room temperature via the vapor diffusion sol–gel method. As-prepared nanocrystals exhibit noncentrosymmetric regions whose volume fraction increases significantly upon substitution of small amounts of Zr⁴⁺ for Ti⁴⁺ and reaches a maximum for substitution levels ranging from 10 to 20 mol%.