Abstract
Nanocrystalline Al2O3–ZrO2 powder was synthesized by a simple method using oxalic acid as a chelating agent. The formation temperature of α - Al2O3 was investigated by differential thermal analysis. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis shows that t-ZrO2 was stabilized in alumina matrix with oxalic acid content 0.5 M and 1 M, respectively. In addition, the data from XRD showed α-Al2O3 and t-ZrO2 phase can be formed at 1100°C with 1 M oxalic acid content. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) micrograph of calcined powders revealed as the oxalic acid content in the precursor solutions is increased from 0.25 M to 0.5 M concentration. The obtained materials could be modified from segregated nanoparticles to agglomerated nanoparticles and finally to large agglomerate with 1 M concentration of oxalic acid. The Fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR) confirms the formation of α-Al2O3 in corroboration with X-ray studies.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This study was supported by Korean Research Foundation through project no. KRF-2004-005-D0009.