Nanocrystalline Gd₂Ti₂O₇ Pyrochlore Material for NIR Reflective Pigment Application: Micro-Structural and Optical Studies.

In this interesting article, the synthesis of nanocrystalline Gd₂Ti₂O₇ material by ball milling followed by annealing, characterization and its application are reported. The Rietveld structural refinement data confirm the cubic pyrochlore Gd₂Ti₂O7 phase with lattice parameter, a = 1.022(9) nm. The particle size observed by HRSEM image concurs with the average crystalline sizes of particles extracted from XRD data. The optical properties of pyrochlore nanocrystalline Gd2Ti207 material are explored from UV-visible, FT-IR, NIR, PL, and Raman spectroscopic measurements. From the present investigation, it is identified that the Gd₂Ti₂O7 nanopowder may be used as solar reflective as well as color pigment due to its high NIR reflectivity (85-95%) under the wavelength of 750-2500 nm.