Fabrication and Applications of Water‐Soluble Niobium Precursors via a Basic Flux Method
Yi‐Fei Pang, Hai‐Fa Zhai, Bing‐Lei Guo, Wen‐Chao Liu, Ai‐Dong LiABSTRACT
A facile and controllable route based on a conventional alkaline flux method was developed using moisture‐insensitive Nb 2 O 5 as the niobium source for synthesis of water‐soluble Nb‐based precursors, including niobium citrate, peroxocitratoniobium, and peroxotartratoniobium. Their formation mechanisms, purity, and thermal decomposition behaviors have been investigated systematically by means of a series of characterizations. The experimental results show that these synthesized precursor solutions possess higher niobium ion purity exceeding 99 wt%, long‐term storage stability, and better compatibility with various wet‐chemical processing. Nb‐doped ZnO nanoparticles and 0.65Pb(Mg 1/3 Nb 2/3 )O 3 ‐0.35PbTiO 3 (PMN‐PT) relaxor ferroelectric ceramics were fabricated using the synthesized water‐soluble niobium precursors as starting materials via a modified Pechini process. Compared with pure ZnO powder, Nb‐doped ZnO exhibits evidently enhanced visible‐light‐responsive antibacterial activity. Moreover, Pechini route‐derived PMN‐PT ceramics display superior ferroelectric and dielectric properties than those of samples prepared by the conventional solid reaction. Above all, the modified polymerizable complex route enables water‐soluble niobium precursors’ high purity and excellent stability in air, showing great potentials in photocatalytic and ferroelectric functional material applications.