NUKLEONIKA 2006, 51(Suppl. 1):s27-s33
Andrzej Adamski1, Paweł Jakubus2, Zbigniew Sojka1,3
1 Faculty of Chemistry, Jagiellonian University,
3 Ingardena Str., 30-060 Kraków, Poland
2 Institute of Chemistry and Environment Protection,
Szczecin Technical University, 42 Piastów Ave., 71-065 Szczecin, Poland
3 Regional Laboratory of Physicochemical
Analyses and Structural Research, 3 Ingardena Str., 30-060 Kraków, Poland
Hydrous zirconia particles of nanometric dimensions were synthesized via forced hydrolysis of
zirconyl chloride. Prolonged aging at 100°C in the mother liquor and subsequent calcination produced
a single-phase tetragonal ZrO2 of enhanced thermal stability with the narrow size and
pore distributions. The influence of the preparation conditions on the phase composition of the
resultant zirconium dioxide was examined using structural (XRD, SEM/TEM) and spectroscopic (Raman)
methods, supported by thermal analysis (DTA/TG, DSC) and N2-porosimetry. The nature of
the parent salt, pH of the solution, the temperature of precipitation and aging, were found to
be the key parameters of the successful synthesis. The sequence of mechanistic steps invoked to
account for the formation of t-ZrO2 was rationalized using the concepts of
zirconium aquatic chemistry.