Microstructure and dielectric properties of silver–barium titanate nanocomplex materials by wet chemical approach

To develop ceramic capacitors with a high effective dielectric constant, we attempted to fabricate BaTiO 3 (BT) complexes with embedded Ag nanoparticles by wet chemical processes. Ag nanoparticle-adsorbed dendritic BT particles, Ag–BT hybrid particles, were synthesized from the sol–gel-derived precursor gel powders containing Ag, Ba, and Ti by hydrothermal treatment. These particles were pressed with BT fillers and TiO 2 precursor nanoparticles into green compacts, and then, the green compacts were chemically converted into the Ag/BT nanocomplex compacts in Ba(OH) 2 aqueous solution under the hydrothermal condition at 160 °C. The effective dielectric constant of the resultant Ag/BT nanocomplexes increases with an increase in Ag content. The maximal effective dielectric constant of approximately 900 was recorded for the nanocomplex with the Ag content of 10.7 vol %.