Synthesis of ZnTa2O6 nano-powders by citrate sol-gel method

The ZnTa2O6 nano-powders have been synthesized using Ta2O5 as starting materials at a low temperature by sol-gel method in this study. The decomposition of precursors, crystal structure and microstructure of ZnTa2O6 powders were characterized by differential thermal analysis (DTA)/thermogravimetry (TG), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and SEM techniques. The effects of pH values on the crystal structure and microstructure of ZnTa2O6 nano-powders were also investigated. XRD and TG/DTA results show that the single phase of ZnTa2O6 for synthesized powder can be obtained by calcining the precursor at 900 deg. C. The average particle size of ZnTa2O6 ranges from 30 nm to 96 nm with varying the pH values.