Ferroelectric PbTiO3 nanoparticles and their properties

The properties of PbTiO3 nanoparticles (NPs) are studied in the terms of the nanoparticle shell theory and are compared with those of BaTiO3 NPs. The effect of a(Pb) polarizability of the temperature of ferroelectric transition of PbTiO3 is discussed. The higher polarizability of a(Ba) and the considerably lower polarizability of a(Pb) determine the higher transition temperature of Tc = 500°C in the case of PbTiO3 and the lower Tc = 120°C in the case of BaTiO3. It is shown that the difference in the polarizability values of Ba and Pb atoms also affects the dimensional properties of NPs, at which the ferroelectric transition from the cubic phase to the tetragonal phase occurs: ≈30 nm for PbTiO3 NPs and 200 nm for BaTiO3 NPs.