Structural and Optical Properties of ZnTiO 3 Nanoparticles Synthesized by Hydrothermal Method M. Vijaya Saritha 1 , S Dastagiri 1 , M. V. Lakshmaiah 1* , V. Ramesh Kumar 2 , K.E.Supriya 1 , and G. Pakardin 2 1 Department of Physics, Sri Krishnadevaraya University, Anantapuramu, A.P, India. 2 Department of Physics, PSC & KVSC Govt. Degree College, Nandyal, A.P, India. 3 Department of Physics, Govt. Degree College (A), YSR Kadapa, A.P, India. Abstract:- ZnTiO3 is a promising wide-energy band gap semiconductor material because of its current and potential uses in catalysts, microwave insulators, luminous materials, nonlinear optics, solar cells, and gas sensors. In the present work, ZnTiO3 nanoparticles were synthesized by hydrothermal method. The structural properties and parameters have been investigated by using X-ray diffraction (XRD). The XRD results raveled that the particle attributed high phase purity, and good crystalline. The structure of ZnTiO3 nanoparticles found cubic spinel phase and using the Scherrer equation the average crystallite size was calculated as 31.74 nm. The X-ray peak broadening analysis was used to evaluate the crystalline sizes and lattice strain by the Williamson-Hall (W-H) analysis. The functional group information conforms to the ZnTiO3 nanoparticles. The FE-SEM images showed the particle shape spherical with partial agglomeration. Furthermore, the optical band gap (Eg) was determined using UV–Visible spectra. Keywords: XRD, FTIR, UV-Vis, Hydrothrmal Method and Optical band gap 1. INTRODUCTION The development of nanomaterials has been strongly pursued due to their unique features such as electronic, chemical, mechanical, magnetic, and optical properties that differ from bulk materials [1–11]. Size-dependent properties are observed such as surface plasmon resonance in some metal particles, quantum confinement in semiconductor particles, and superparamagnetism in magnetic materials. Among the different nanomaterials, perception of the behavior of ferroelectric materials at the nanoscale is important for the growth of molecular electronics. Indeed, perovskite-phase mixed-metal oxides are significant for their advantageous electrostrictive, pyroelectric, piezoelectric, electro-optic and dielectronic properties with corresponding applications in the electronics industry for high-k- dielectrics, actuators, and transducers [12, 13]. Among perovskite-phase mixed-metal oxides, ZnTiO3 has been reported to have superior electrical properties that are sufficient for applications towards microwave dielectrics [14]. Furthermore, ZnTiO3 is an effective photocatalyst because this compound is categorized in a group of coupled photocatalysts that can help to enhance the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 through reducing recombination process and change band gap to enhance the optical response in the UV to the visible light range [15, 16]. Pure h- ZnTiO3 represents superior dielectric properties in the microwave range. Many reports have been made to produce pure ZnTiO3 powders and ceramics. But the synthesis of pure ZnTiO3 from a mixture of ZnO and TiO2 with a molar ratio of 1 was not successful. There are various problems with the synthesis of pure ZnTiO3 powders by the solid-state reaction method such as large particle size, a limited degree of chemical homogeneity, high temperature, and long range of diffusion distance. In the past two decades, the sol-gel route has been successfully used for the preparation of ceramics, thin films, fibers, and glasses; this method has various advantages such as low calcination temperature, low cost, chemical homogeneity, and easy component adjustment. Besides, the sol-gel route is one of the methods for the synthesis of nanomaterials [17, 18]. Here, ZnTiO3 nanostructures were synthesized by an unusual sol-gel method. Utilizing new and smaller number chemical materials in addition to a simple procedure is the characteristic benefit of this method in assessment to the other reports [19, 20]. In this paper, ZnTiO3 nanoparticles were successfully synthesized by hydrothermal method. The products were characterized by various analyses such as XRD, SEM, TEM, EDS, FT-IR, and UV-Vis spectroscopy. 2. EXPERIMENTAL To synthesize the ZT nanoparticles, the starting materials were chosen as Zn (NO3)2 6H2O and TiO2 (each of 99.9% purity, Sigma-Aldrich). These precursors were mixed after taking their stoichiometric ratio. The whole mixed precursors were transferred to a glass beaker. Furthermore, distilled water was added to the precursors in a ratio of 1:4 (mixed precursors (gm): distilled water (ml)) and the resultant solution was kept on a magnetic stirrer. A stirring rate of 500 rpm was maintained to stir the solution. Later NaOH solution was slowly added, and the pH value reached 11. Furthermore, this solution was transferred to a 500 ml Teflon bowl International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology (IJERT) ISSN: 2278-0181 http://www.ijert.org IJERTV11IS110069 (This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.) Published by : www.ijert.org Vol. 11 Issue 11, November-2022 85