Green chemistry: Environmentally benign synthesis of doped barium titanate

CHED 1172

Samantha M. DeCarlo, sdecarlo3@washcoll.edu and Anne E. Marteel-Parrish, amarteel2@washcoll.edu. Department of Chemistry, Washington College, 300 Washington Avenue, Chestertown, MD 21620
The perovskite, barium titanate (BaTiO3), is widely used in the electroceramics industry. The use of this compound at room temperature as a capacitor requires doping which lowers the Curie Temperature. The focal point of this research was to dope barium titanate while utilizing greener techniques. The dopants were strontium oxalate (SrC2O4) and strontium carbonate (SrCO3) while the starting material to be doped was the barium titanyl catecholate trihydrate (Ba[Ti(cat)3]•3H2O) source. Two doping strategies based on a centrifuge- and a microwave-assisted method utilizing water as the solvent were investigated. Both of these methods permitted thermodynamic control over the barium-to-strontium molar stoichiometric ratios. The characterization techniques were X-ray powder diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, and inductively coupled plasma. The economical and environmentally friendly aspects of this research combined green chemistry and materials science. The doping strategies, characterization data, and outcomes are detailed in this presentation.