Fabrication and characterization of environmental-friendly Ni1-xRxTiO3 nanopigments with high NIR reflectance

Abstract

A series of novel high dispersed environmental-friendly nanopigments based on NiTiO 3 doped with rare earth ion such as Y , La , Eu , Sm have been developed. The products were characterized by X-ray diffractometer (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), commission internationale de l'Eclairage (CIE) 1976 L*α*b* color scales and UV-Vis-near-infrared radiation (NIR) reflectance spectroscopy. The substitution of R 3+ for Ni 2+ in NiTiO 3 can improve the yellowness of pigments, especially for Eu 3+ substitution. The sample with the substitution of Eu 3+ for Ni 2+ processes the highest NIR reflectance and enhances the NIR reflectance to 89.0%. SEM results revealed that the obtained pigments were composed of well-dispersed spherical-like particles with the range of 40–60 nm. EDS results indicated that the distribution of Ni , Ti , R , O element was considerably uniform with no chemical segregation phenomenon.