We report here a robust, large-scale synthesis of BaTiO₃ nanopowders using a bioinspired process that first was developed on a much smaller scale. The most advantageous points of this protocol are that it takes place at nearly room temperature (25°C), overcomes many limitations encountered in other scale-up processes (such as the need for external drivers, e.g., heat, radiation or pressure), bypasses the use of surfactants and templates and does not necessitate pH adjustment. The use of a single-source, bimetallic alkoxide with the vapor diffusion of a hydrolytic catalyst (H₂O) provides the necessary conditions for facile crystallization and growth of small, well-defined BaTiO₃ nanoparticles at mild temperatures, yielding batches of up to 250 ± 5 g in a green process. Extension of this method to kilogram-scale production of BaTiO₃ nanocrystals in semicontinuous and continuous processes is feasible.
A high‐rate, continuous synthesis of functional nanomaterials using a home engineered reactor is reported. The reactor is able to produce low‐cost, kilogram‐scale BaTiO3 nanopowders with a nanocrystalline particle size less than 30 nm at mild temperatures (<100 °C) and ambient pressure. Nebulization and collision of warm microdroplets (60–80 °C) of Ba(OH)2 and Ti(O‐nBu)4 very quickly result in total hydrolysis and subsequent conversion to BaTiO3, yielding 1.3 kg/day of high purity, highly crystalline nanoparticles (25–30 nm). This synthesis procedure also enables high‐rate production of TiO2 anatase (2.9 kg/day). It therefore provides a general platform for processing and scaling up of functional inorganic nanomaterials under very mild conditions.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.