Synthesis and Structural Studies of Sol Gel Processed Nanopowders of Lead Doped Y2Ti2O7 Pyrochlores

Pyrochlore-type lead doped yttrium titanate (Y2Ti2O7) nanoparticules were successfully synthesized by a sol gel method through the destabilization of colloidal solution (DCS) at a relatively low  temperature. The as-preparation samples were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform-Infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Raman spectroscopy. The results show that doping with 10% of Pb2+ does not bring any structural change, however further Pb-doping ( 20% ≤ x ≤40% ) leads to formation of Y2Ti2O7 phase along with PbTiO3 phase, which indicates that the limit of solubility of Pb2+ in Y2Ti2O7 is  under 20%. The evaluated experimental value of this limit agrees with that calculated from the limiting radii ratio stabilization of the pyrochlore structure A2B2O7.