Electrochemical Synthesis and Characterization of Inorganic Materials from Aqueous Solutions

The dissertation consists of the following three sections: 1. Hydroxyapatite (HA) coatings. In this work, we deposited HA precursor films from weak basic electrolytic solution (pH= 8-9) via an electrochemical approach; the deposits were changed into crystallite coatings of hydroxyapatite by sintering at specific temperatures (600-800 ºC). The formed coatings were mainly characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). XRD patterns show well-defined peaks of HA when sintered under vacuum conditions. FTIR measurements indicate the existence of hydroxyl groups, which were confirmed by the characteristic intensity of the stretching and bending bands at ~3575 and ~630 cm-1, respectively. The SEM shows an adhesive, crack free morphology for the double-layer coating surface of the samples sintered in a vacuum furnace. 2. Silver/polymer/clay nanocomposites. Silver nanoparticles were prepared in layered clay mineral (montmorillonite)/polymer (PVP: poly (vinyl pyrrolidone)) suspension by an electrochemical approach. The silver particles formed in the bulk suspension were stabilized by the PVP and partially exfoliated clay platelets, which acted as protective colloids to prevent coagulation of silver nanoparticles together. The synthesized silver nanoparticles/montmorillonite/PVP composite was characterized and identified by XRD, SEM, and TEM (transmission electron microscopy) measurements. 3. Ce-doped lead zirconate titanate (PZT) thin films. In this study, we fabricated cerium-doped PZT films (molar ratio of Zr/Ti:: 0.5:0.5) via cathodic electrodeposition on the indium tin oxide ( ITO) coated glass substrate. In the preparation process, the PZT films were modified by adding a small amount of cerium dopants, which led to the formation of Ce-doped PZT films after sintering at high temperatures. The fabricated PZT films on the ITO coated glass substrate may be used as electro-optic devices in the industrial application