Optical bandgap and ferroelectric studies of Pb0.8−yLayCo0.2TiO3 (y = 0.2 to 0.8) synthesized by microwave irradiation processed sol-gel technique

The Pb0.8-yLayCo0.2TiO3 (y = 0.2 to 0.8) (PLCT) nanoparticles were prepared via the microwave irradiation processed sol-gel method. The well-defined nanofibers were observed in the case of y = 0.8 (lead free content) using morphological analysis and might be expected for drug delivery applications. In addition, the UV-visible spectra attributed the narrow and wide optical bandgap energies (Eop) for y = 0.2-0.6 (∼1.48-1.54 eV) and y = 0.8 (∼3.44 eV). Therefore, these nanoparticles can reveal full extent applications in optoelectronic devices, photocatalytic and sensor based applications. The P-E loops showed well-defined hysteresis nature ensuring the ferroelectric nature as well as distortion into a banana shape.