Mechanism of Macroporous Zirconia Particles Formation Prepared by Hydrothermal Synthesis

Abstract

The purpose of this work was to investigate the mechanism of macroporous zirconia particles formation by hydrothermal synthesis. Hydrothermal synthesis of zirconia was prepared from precursor solution of Zr(NO3)2 with a concentration of 0.3 M at temperatures of 300 and 200°C carried out in a batch and a continuous reactor, respectively. Hydrothermally synthesized colloid subsequently was mixed with polystyrene template to form macroporous zirconia particles, and then was synthesized hydrothermally for 1 hour at temperature of 150°C and 200°C. Once the synthesis was complete, the particles were then dried at temperature of 60°C for 6 hours. In order to eliminate polystyrene template from the particles, the dried particles were calcined at temperature of 600°C and 900°C for 6 hours. The morphology of particles formed were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Particle Size Analyzer (PSA). The analytical result showed that macroporous particles were formed at all experimental condition, and the mechanism of macroporous particles formation could be observed clearly. Based on the XRD analysis, the crystal zirconia consisted of monoclinic and tetragonal phase.

Aqueous sodium borohydride induced thermally stable porous zirconium oxide for quick removal of lead ions

“…The presence of nanoscale pores in metal oxide such as zirconium oxide nanoparticles play a vital role to enhance the physical and chemical reactivity of nanoparticles and promising potential applications in adsorption, catalysis, gas purification, sensors as well as in biological application 1 2 3 . But, development of nanopores in zirconium oxide is a great challenge and numerous strategies have been devoted to synthesize nanoscale porous zirconium oxide 4 5 6 7 8 . Several synthesis approaches such as sol-gel 9 , precipitation 6 , tape casting 10 , oil emulsion method 11 and solvothermal 12 have been employed to develop porous zirconium oxide by using hard or soft templates as well as self-assembly process with the help of specific surfactants to meet the requirement for different applications 5 13 .…”