Hierarchical nanostructures of PbTiO3 through mesocrystal formation

Novel hierarchical self-assembled structures; bur-like PbTiO3 nanostructures were made by self-assembly of PbTiO3 nanocrystals under hydrothermal conditions using sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate surfactant. The bur-like nanostructures exhibit a unique geometrical shape with cores of agglomerated nanocrystals and outershells of nanorods. The nanorods were between 30 nm and 100 nm in diameter and from several hundred nm up to 2 microm in length. We demonstrate that these nanostructures are formed in a two step process where agglomeration of PbTiO3 nanoparticles into microspheres occurs in a first step, followed by assembly of cube-shaped nanoparticle building blocks into PbTiO3 mesocrystals in a second step. The mesocrystals continuously grow into nanorods from the surface of the microspheres acting as a substrate.