Zou J., Gemeiner P., Zaki A., Dubey A., Glinsek S., Lupascu D.C., Shvartsman V.V., Paillard C., Dkhil B.
Journal of Alloys and Compounds, vol. 1079, art. no. 189947, 2026
When the size of ferroelectric materials is reduced to the nanoscale, novel phenomena emerge from the interplay of electrostatic, strain, surface, defect, and confinement effects, offering exciting opportunities for applications in nanoelectronics, optoelectronics, and biomedicine. Despite extensive studies on the model ferroelectric BaTiO<sub>3</sub>, a clear understanding of how synthesis routes govern the relationships among structure and functional properties in BaTiO<sub>3</sub> nanoparticles remains lacking. In this work, BaTiO<sub>3</sub> nanoparticles were synthesized via coprecipitation, chemical bath precipitation, and hydrothermal method based on the hydrolysis-condensation-nucleation mechanism, and their microstructure, electrical and optical properties were characterized. To further achieve tunable luminescence and probe local structure–property relationships, Er<sup>3+</sup> ions were introduced as luminescent centers and their photoluminescence behavior was analyzed. The coprecipitated BaTiO<sub>3</sub> nanoparticles exhibit smaller particle size, higher surface area and increased local defect density, which favor surface-mediated catalytic processes. In contrast, the chemical bath precipitated sample shows pronounced rare-earth-mediated emission, highlighting its potential for bioimaging and nanomedicine applications. The hydrothermally synthesized BaTiO<sub>3</sub> nanoparticles demonstrate enhanced ferroelectric polarization, a multidomain texture, and a reduced band-gap energy, rendering them promising for optoelectronic device applications.
