Facile preparation of ZrO2 whiskers by LiF-KCl molten salts synthesis

Abstract

Monoclinic zirconia (ZrO2) whiskers were made via the molten salt method using zirconyl chloride octahydrate (ZrOCl2 ? 8H2O) as zirconium source, potassium chloride (KCl) as molten salt and lithium fluoride (LiF) as a mineraliser. DSC-TG, XRD, FE-SEM, Raman and TEM were performed to study the effects of heat treatment temperature, holding time and heating rate on the synthesis of zirconia whiskers. The results indicate that zirconia whiskers with diameters of 50-80 nm and aspect ratios of 10-30 can be obtained by heating the precursor at slow rate (3?C/min) to 718?C for 1 h and then at faster rate (7?C/min) to 950?C for 3 h. The whiskers have a smooth surface and grow in [001] direction. The key to the ZrO2 whiskers growth is the controlled dissolution and precipitation of the ZrO2 in a LiF-KCl molten salt solution environment.