Morphology Control In Precursor Ceramic Powder Production By The Electrical Dispersion Reactor

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe Electrical Dispersion Reactor (EDR) allows the continuous production of composite oxide ceramic precursor materials. Silica particles in the form of highly porous shells are produced by the hydrolysis of tetraethylorthosilicate as the continuous phase and water-ammonia as the disperse phase, reflecting the diffusion of the silicon moiety into the dispersed phase. Alternately, denser silica particles result when aqueous solutions of sodium metasilicate are dispersed in a continuous phase containing acetic acid in 2-ethyl-1-hexanol. Additionally, spherical particles in the size range 0.1 to 2 microns are produced from the dispersion of aqueous solutions containing cupric chloride or a mixture of cupric chloride, yttrium nitrate, and barium nitrate (3:1:2 molar ratio) into a continuous organic phase containing ammonia.