Highly dispersed suspension of YSZ and zirconia nanoparticles by solvothermal processing

摘要

Yttria stablised zirconia (YSZ) and tetragonal ZrO_2 (t-ZrO_2) nanoparticles were synthesised by a solvothermal method using ethanol and isopropanol as solvents. Monodispersed YSZ and t-ZrO_2 nanoparticles were produced in ethanol. Uniform spherical aggregates of YSZ nanoparticles were obtained in the isopropanol solution. It was found that the average crystallite size was independent of starting material, solvent and product morphology. The solvent had a major effect on the morphology of the aggregates/agglomerates formed from the initial nanocrystallites. The solvothermal YSZ nanopowder was compared with YSZ nanopowder produced by conventional precipitation-calcination using simultaneous differential thermal analysis (DTA) and thermogravi-metric analysis (TGA). The particle size distribution of the agglomerates/aggregates was investigated by light diffraction.