Alkoxide Precursor Synthesis and Characterization of Phases in the Barium‐Titanium Oxide System

Barium titanate precursors with Ba/Ti ratios ranging from 2:1 to 1:9 were prepared by controlled hydrolysis of mixed barium and titanium species in an alcohol medium. Details of the synthesis and characterization of the resultant products are given. Amorphous powders precipitated by hydrolysis from ethanol solutions of barium and titanium alkoxides crystallize to single‐or two‐phase 1:2 and 1:5 compounds at ∼700°C. These compounds transform at higher temperatures to other known crystalline phases, the 1:5 phase being maintained metastably to ∼1100°C.