Effect of sol-gel processing parameters on structure of zirconia

Abstract The present study reports the experimental results regarding the effect of molar ratio of hydrolysis water used in the sol-gel synthesis upon the structure of zirconia. The ZrO2 materials were synthesized via simple metal-chelate route using zirconium n-propoxide [Zr(OCH2CH2CH3)4], n-propanol, acetic acid, and deionized water. Thermogravimetric analysis and infrared spectroscopy were performed to evaluate the structural evolution upon samples heating; the complete removal of organic compounds at 330 °C was verified. The results of X-ray diffraction showed that the calcination tempera...