Abstract
Monophasic nanoparticles of Ba(1-x)PbxZrO(3) (x= 0.05, 0.10, 0.15 and 0.20) have been successfully prepared by inverse microemulsion method. The X-ray diffraction studies confirm the contraction of lattice in the monophasic solid solutions of (Ba,Pb)ZrO3. TEM studies showed the formation of polydispersed particles (spherical, cubic and hexagonal) with grain size in the range of 42-70 nm. The surface area of as-prepared nanoparticles was found to be in the range of 64-157 m(2)g(-1). The dielectric constant was found to increase (27.2-89.5) whereas the dielectric loss was found to decrease (0.07-0.002) on increasing the Pb2+ ion concentration (0.05-0.20), suggesting effective dielectric characteristics of synthesized nanoparticles. Suitable pore morphology and high temperature stability makes this material a prominent media to develop capacitive sensor. It is observed that the capacitance of the sensor increases with increase in humidity for that the nanoparticles may be suitable for vapor sensing application. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.