Praseodymium(III)-substituted bismuth titanate thin-film generation using metallo-organic precursors with an M-O-C skeleton and sol-gel technique and employing 4f-4f transition spectra as a probe to explore kinetic performance.
A hetero-trimetallic lanthanide-substituted bismuth titanate (BLT, where lanthanide is praseodymium) with stoichiometry Pr(0.75)Bi(3.25) Ti(3)O(12) has been obtained as both highly homogenized crystalline and amorphous thin films using three different BLT precursors: (i). precursor A-(Pr(OC(3)H(7)(i))(3),Bi(OOCCH(3))(3),Ti(OC(3)H(7)(i))(4)); (ii). precursor B-(Pr(OC(3)H(7)(i))(2)(acac),Bi(OOCCH(3))(3),Ti(OC(3)H(7)(i))(3)(acac)); and (iii). precursor C-(Pr(OC(3)H(7)(i))(2)(acac),Bi(OOCCH(3))(3),Ti(OC(3)H(7)(i))(2)(acac))(2). These three BLT precursors (A, B, C) are prepared by reacting constituent monometallic precursors in the desired stoichiometry and by employing controlled acidic hydrolysis via the sol-gel method. Paramagnetic Pr(III), being a f(2) ion, gives characteristic 4f-4f transition bands (3H(4)-->3P(2), 3H(4)-->3P(1), 3H(4)-->3P(0), and 3H(4)-->1D(2)) in the visible region, the intensities of which have been found to be highly sensitive to even minor changes in the immediate coordination around Pr(III), occurring as a result of the progress of polycondensation reactions of three multicomponent BLT sols. We have used the changes with time in the intensities (represented by oscillator strengths of these four 4f-4f bands) and the magnitude and variation of the spectral parameters evaluated from the observed spectra with a view toward monitoring the sol-gel reactions of BLT precursors A, B, and C. 4f-4f transition spectra of the aliquots, withdrawn from the hydrolyzing A, B, and C sols at different time intervals, represent the changes occurring in the Pr(III) environment with the progress of sol-gel hydrolysis of BLT, and are used to investigate the kinetic performance in hydrolysis of the three precursors. Kinetics of hydrolysis of precursors A, B, and C indicate that all four f-f transition bands of Pr are almost equally sensitive to precursor hydrolysis in the order A>B>C.
Central Salt & Marine Chemicals Research Institute, 364 002 Gujarat, Bhavnagar, India. salt@csir.res.in
Sudhindra N
SN
Misra
Ram S
RS
Shukla
Minaz A
MA
Gagnani