YU Youhua, LIU Jianlei, XIONG Tiantian
(School of Material Science and Engineering, Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute, Jingdezhen 333403, Jiangxi, China)
Abstract: Zircon powders were prepared by the sol-gel method using sodium silicate and ammonium zirconium carbonate as raw materials,and LiF as a mineralizer. The effects of the preparation process on the synthesis were investigated. The phases and micro-morphology of product samples were characterized by XRD, SEM and so on. The results show that the synthesis temperature of ZrSiO4 without mineralizers is as high as 1100 °C, while with LiF as a mineralizer, zircon is formed at a temperature as low as 650 °C. As the temperature of the heattreatment increases, the diffraction peak intensity of zircon is gradually increased. Zircon is fully synthesized at 750 °C with a good degree of crystallinity.
Key words: silica sol; ZrSiO4; LiF; sol-gel method