Synthesis of pure tetragonal zirconium oxide with high surface

M. Rezaei  Æ S. M. Alavi Æ S. Sahebdelfar Æ Zi-Feng Yan Æ H. Teunissen Æ J. H. Jacobsen

 Abstract

Zirconium oxide (ZrO2) with high surface area and high content of the tetragonal polymorph was prepared by precipitation from aqueous solutions under basic conditions in the presence of hexadecylt­rimethylammonium bromide as surfactant. The surfac­tant to zirconium molar ratio, pH of precipitation, aging time and zirconium concentration in aqueous solution were optimized by the Taguchi method. The sample, prepared under optimized conditions had a high surface area of 168 m² g^–1 after calcination at 600 C for 10 h. Pellets, prepared by pressing this sample and after calcination at 800 C for 0.5 h had a surface area of 105 m² g^–1. X-ray diffraction analyses showed that both heat treatments gave pure tetragonal zirconium oxide.