Synthesis of long ZrTiO4 fibers by a sol–gel process free of organic components

Abstract

Long ZrTiO₄ fibers have been synthesized through a sol–gel process using titanium sulfate and zirconium oxychloride octahydrate as starting materials without any organic component. In this system, SO₄²⁻ anions are a chelating reagent and can coordinate to metal ions (Ti and Zr) with its oxygen atoms which make the inorganic polymer easily form and the sols spinnable. The ZrTiO₄ fibers with an average length of ca. 40 cm are composed of nanoparticles (particle size <25 nm) of the order of 600 nm to 5 µm in diameter. The transformation of the green gel fibers to ZrTiO₄ fibers has been investigated by TGA, FTIR, XRD, SEM, TEM and UV techniques. Furthermore the microstructures of the ZrTiO₄ fibers have also been characterized, and the fiber density is up to 98.2% of its theoretical value.