Effect of 1‐Methoxy‐2‐Propanol for Minimizing BaCO ₃ Impurity in Sol‐Gel Derived Barium Zirconate Titanate

ABSTRACT BaZr x Ti 1‐x O 3 ( x = 0.1, 0.25) nanocrystallites were synthesized using a sol‐gel method with 2‐Methoxy ethanol (2ME) and 1‐Methoxy 2‐propanol (1M2P) as solvents to study the elimination of BaCO 3 (BCO) phase formation. The use of 1M2P significantly reduced BCO formation, as quantified by Rietveld refinement of XRD data and Raman Spectroscopy. Specifically, less than 1% BCO was observed in BaZr 0.1 Ti 0.9 O 3 (BZT1090) and BaZr 0.25 Ti 0.75 O 3 (BZT2575), synthesized with 1M2P, compared to nearly 3% with 2ME. Raman spectroscopy supported these findings, showing weaker BCO peaks at 1049 and 1060 cm −1 in BZT‐1M2P versus BZT‐2ME. Additionally, FESEM analysis revealed a higher density of micro‐potholes in BZT‐2ME, which has twice the specific area of BZT‐1M2P, as indicated by the BET isotherms. The use of 1M2P during synthesis has little effect on crystallite size, microstrain, stacking fault, and dislocation density, compared with previous reports.