Preparation of Zirconium Sol by Precipitation Method

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Zirconium sol was prepared using precipitation method. In the process, ZrO(OH)2precipitate was firstly obtained through the addition of strong base into the zirconium ions, and then was washed to remove the chloride ion. Lastly, the obtained ZrO(OH)2precipitate was dissolved in nitric acid solution to obtain the white mixed solution. The clear and transparent zirconium sol can be obtained after heated the white mixed solution in a water bath. In this study, the effects of three precipitating agents on the properties of zirconium sol were studied. Zirconium sol prepared by using ammonia as precipitating agent is easy to peptize, while its viscosity is very high. On the other hand, zirconium sol prepared by using urea as precipitating agent exhibits low solid content. Notably, the performance of zirconium sol prepared using ammonia and NH4Cl solution as precipitating agent is best due to its low viscosity and high solid content. In addition, zirconium sol, xerogel and zirconium dioxide powder prepared using ammonia and NH4Cl solution as precipitating agent were systematically characterized by SEM, viscometer, XRD, FTIR. The optimal zirconium sol was synthesized using a peptizing time of 8 h under a peptizing temperature was 80 °C, and the dried amorphous xerogel was converted to tetragonal ZrO2after calcined at 600 °C, while monoclinic at 1000 °C.