Comparative Study of the Synthesis of Ceramic Composites Based on Lanthanum Orthophosphate

Two approaches to the synthesis of nanosized precursor powders 0.5LaPO(4)& BULL;nH(2)O-0.5ZrO(OH)(2) and 0.5LaPO(4)& BULL;nH(2)O-0.5Y(OH)(3) for the fabrication of ceramic composites 0.5LaPO(4)-0.5ZrO(2) and 0.5LaPO(4)-0.5Y(2)O(3) were used. In the first case, sol-gel synthesis of components (LaPO4 & BULL;nH(2)O, ZrO(OH)(2) or Y(OH)(3)) was carried out separately by reverse precipitation technique. In the second case, reverse precipitation was used too but without separate preparation of sols of the components. The results of the synthesis were compared by XRD analysis, thermal behavior of precursor powders by DSC/TG technique, as well as Vickers microhardness values of 0.5LaPO(4)-0.5ZrO(2) and 0.5LaPO(4)-0.5Y(2)O(3) ceramic composites.

Automated summary

Two approaches were used to synthesize nanosized precursor powders 0.5LaPO(4)•nH(2)O-0.5ZrO(OH)(2) and 0.5LaPO(4)•nH(2)O-0.5Y(OH)(3) for the fabrication of ceramic composites 0.5LaPO(4)-0.5ZrO(2) and 0.5LaPO(4)-0.5Y(2)O(3). In the first approach, sol-gel synthesis was carried out separately for each component, while in the second approach, the components were synthesized together using reverse precipitation. The synthesis results were compared using XRD analysis, DSC/TG technique, and Vickers microhardness measurements of the ceramic composites.