Preparation of nanosized barium zirconate powder by precipitation in aqueous solution

Several ways were explored to synthesize barium zirconate by soft chemistry methods in aqueous solution. In the first method the synthesis of barium zirconate was initiated by urea decomposition, through an homogeneous precipitation of barium and zirconium salts followed by a "low temperature" thermal treatment. The kinetic of the reaction and the optimum urea/cation ratio have been determined by means of X-ray diffraction and Inductive Coupled Plasma analyses. It has been demonstrated that an amorphous zirconium hydrated oxide starts to precipitate followed by the precipitation of barium carbonate[1]. A calcination at 1200degreesC during 2 hours gives rise to the formation of a pure barium zirconate phase. In the other methods, barium zirconate was synthesized, in one step without any thermal treatments, by precipitation in highly basic aqueous solutions containing barium and zirconium salts. The effect of the hydroxide concentration was discussed in relation to the barium zirconate phase formation, the particles size and the particles size distribution. For each powder, microstructural characterisations have been performed on sintered bodies in order to evaluate the influence of the thermal treatment on the final density. Dilatometric measurements have been also performed in order to quantify the densification process. Important informations were obtained by these techniques, as for example the existence of an internal porosity which severely limits the final density of the material, even if sintering was performed at high temperature. Thus a careful control of the heating profile seems to be necessary in order to produce dense materials.