Size-controlled one-dimensional monocrystalline BaTiO3 nanostructures

One-dimensional BaTiO3 nanostructures have been synthesized by a simple hydrothermal ion-exchange reaction using alkali-metal titanates as synthetic precursors. The BaTiO3 nanowires obtained from Na2Ti3O7 nanowires have diameters of 50–80 nm and lengths of up to 10 μm. In contrast, BaTiO3 nanowires obtained from K2Ti4O9 nanowhiskers have relatively large sizes of 300–500 nm in diameter and several tens of microns in length. Both types of nanostructures are single-crystalline without any impurity phases. The local electric polarization of individual ferroelectric nanowires has been studied using vertical mode piezoresponse force microscopy.