Thermal Evolution of Mixed Oxides of Zirconia-Silica Prepared by Sol-gel Route

Abstract

The thermal evolution of nanodimensional mixed metal oxides prepared by sol-gel route through structural characterization is reported. ZrO2-SiO2 sol-gel powders were produced using zirconium propoxide and tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) as precursors. The gel was dried at 110°C for 6h in air. After drying, thermal treatment of as prepared samples was carried out at 650, 875 and 1100°C for 4 h. The crystallization of samples and the crystalline phases evolved are related to annealing temperature. The phases of zirconia and silica are identified, and the lattice parameters are calculated using X-ray diffraction. The results suggest that annealing at higher temperature enhances the crystallinity and hence crystallite size of nanodimensional samples.