Control of polymorphism in NaNbO(3) by hydrothermal synthesis.

The metastable ilmenite polymorph of NaNbO(3), instead of the expected perovskite polymorph, may be prepared directly in one step under mild hydrothermal conditions by lowering pH and using close to stoichiometric amounts of metal precursors; in situ energy-dispersive X-ray diffraction shows that crystallisation occurs rapidly via a sequence of intermediate crystalline phases.