Synthesis Of (Ag0.5Fe0.5)TiO3 Nanocrystalline Powder Using Stearic Acid Gel Method

A low-cost, green and reproducible stearic acid assisted synthesis of nanocrystalline powder of (Ag0.5Fe0.5)TiO3 (n-AFT) is reported. X-ray, FTIR, energy dispersive X-ray and transmission electron microscopy analyses are performed to ascertain the formation of n-AFT. Rietveld refinement of X-ray data indicated the formation of a single-phase monoclinic structure. Individual nanoparticles almost spherical in shape having the sizes of 5-14 nm are found. The mechanism of nanotransformation for the soft-chemical synthesis of n-AFT has been explained using nucleation and growth theory. UV-visible study revealed the surface plasmon resonance at 318 nm. Dielectric study revealed a low value of dielectric constant (= 177) and dielectric loss (= 0.013) at 1 kHz. Magnetic studies have been carried out using vibration sample magnetometer, which indicated the possibility of magnetoelectric coupling.