Effect of Surfactant on the Thermal Behavior of Cerate-Zirconate Ceramic Powder Prepared by Modified Sol-Gel Method

Abstract

BaCe0.54Zr0.36Y0.1O2.95 (BCZY10) ceramic powder was synthesized by a modified sol-gel method using metal nitrate salt as pre-cursors. The sample was prepared using three different types of surfactants namely polyethylene glycol (PEG) 6000, sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) and cetyltrimetylammonium bromide (CTAB). Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometry was used to analyze the thermal decomposition of the dried (T=325 °C) and calcined (T=1100 °C) powder. Standard sample prepared without surfactant is denoted as A1 while the sample that prepared using PEG, SDS and CTAB as surfactant was denoted as A2, A3, and A4 respectively. TGA results indicate that all the samples were almost completely decomposed at ~800 °C except for A2. It showed the lowest thermal decomposition temperature Ttd=739 °C. The highest total weight loss ~94.7% is shown by sample A4 than others. The sample with the presence of surfactant exhibits faster reaction rate for the first decomposition stage which is t = 8 min, 11 min, and 13 min for sample A2, A3, and A4 respectively compared to A1 (t = 18 min). The A2 sample shows faster reaction rate indicates that BCZY10 compound might be formed earlier faster due to the long carbon chain posses by PEG surfactant. The higher number of carbon chain present in the surfactant may accelerate the combustion process and the formation of metal oxide compounds. FTIR spectra illustrated that the carbonate residue still remained in all the samples even after calcined at 1100 oC. This result indicates that the used of surfactant does not give a significant effect on preventing the formation of BaCO3. However, the intensity of metal-oxygen band at ~450 cm-1 become stronger indicates that the formation of BCZY10 compound was being enhanced.