Non-hydrolytic sol–gel process: zirconium titanate gels

Abstract

The effectiveness of a non-hydrolytic sol–gel process for the preparation of bicomponent oxides has been studied in the 1:1 system TiO ₂ –ZrO ₂ . Elemental analysis by energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDXA) and by inductively coupled plasma (ICP) showed the same Ti:Zr ratio for the amorphous oxide and crystalline ZrTiO ₄ which corresponds to that of the initial solution. The direct crystallization of ZrTiO ₄ below 700 °C without the intermediate formation of TiO ₂ or ZrO ₂ indicates that the non-hydrolytic sol–gel process gives rise to the formation of homogeneous zirconium titanate gels.