Abstract
In recent studies, it was possible to produce hydrous zirconia nanoparticles with crystallite sizes as small as 2 nm from ZrW2O8 powder with initial particle size of 1.7 µm in an aqueous medium. The zirconia nanoparticles formed transparent polycrystalline aggregates. However, the controlled production of transparent zirconia solids by centrifugation of stable suspensions, deagglomerated in the moment of the synthesis, has not been explored yet. In this context, this study aimed to evaluate the dispersion and consolidation of hydrous zirconia nanoparticles produced from ZrW2O8, in aqueous medium and using triethanolamine (TEOA) as surfactant, and to understand the effect of experimental conditions on the tungsten content in the consolidated solids. The synthesis and dispersion were carried out in aqueous medium at 80 °C with the use of NaOH and TEOA; the colloidal solutions were dialyzed, their pH values were adjusted to 6, and then ultracentrifuged at 28000 rpm for 24 h. It has been found that the use of TEOA in the synthesis allowed obtaining stable sols of zirconia nanoparticles which, after centrifugation, originated transparent and yellowish solids that were characterized using various techniques (scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and simultaneous thermal analysis). Although TEOA assists in the dispersion of nanoparticles, it interfered in the synthesis mechanism, leading to the production of zirconia doped with WOx, with tungsten concentrations that varied depending on the experimental conditions employed.
Keywords:
zirconium tungstate; triethanolamine; WOx-doped zirconia; colloi dal processing
