Author

Emily Myers

Date of Award

2013

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Natural Sciences

First Advisor

Sendova, Mariana

Keywords

Differential Scanning Calorimetry

Area of Concentration

Physics, Barium Titanate, Phase Transitions

Abstract

Barium titanate (BaTiO3) has a multitude of applications in the electronics industry due to its high dielectic constant and ferroelectric properties. Use of this material in small-scale electronics is limited, however, by its loss of ferroelectricity below a certain critical particle size. Differential heat flow bands detected during thermal cycling were associated with BaTiO3 structural transitions. Specific heat capacities of 50 nm, 100 nm, 200 nm, and 300 nm BaTiO3 powders were calculated at every 0.5 K between 134 K and 451.5 K. The bands around the phase transitions were fitted with Split-Pearson VII functions to obtain peak position, full-width half-maximum (FWHM), and transition enthalpy. The 300 nm and 50 nm data were also compared with 260 cm-1 Raman mode data. It was found that the phase transitions are size-dependent.

Rights

The author has granted New College of Florida the nonexclusive right to archive, make accessible, and distribute for educational purposes this work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The copyright of this work remains with the author.

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