Synthesis of spodumene and spodumene-zirconia composite powders using aqueous sol-gel method

Pure spodumene and spodumene-zirconia (5,10,15 mol%) composite powders were prepared using aqueous sol-gel method employing lithium formate, aluminium formate, zirconium formate and tetraethoxy silane (TEOS) as starting materials in aqueous medium. The gels prepared by this method were dried at 100 degC for 24h and then calcined for 2h at different temperatures ranging from 500 degC to 800 degC. X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), differential thermal analysis (DTA), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and infra-red spectroscopy analysis (IR) were utilized to characterize the gel powders and calcined powders. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) was used to measure the average particle size of the calcined powders. (author). 14 refs., 5 figs., 5 tabs