Effect of Cobalt Content on the Structural Properties of Zirconia Prepared by Sol-Gel Method

Abstract

Zirconia (ZrO2) powders doped with cobalt were prepared by sol-gel method using inorganic salt of zirconium (IV) chloride (ZrCl4) as precursor. The amount of cobalt was varied in the range of 4–16% weight percent to study the effect to structural properties. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis suggested the resulting phases were zirconium oxide (Baddeleyite) with monoclinic crystal system along with cobalt oxide as secondary phase. The increasing cobalt content caused the XRD peaks to shift into lower angle due to substitution of Zr atom to smaller Co atom in crystal lattice. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images showed the samples with higher Co content had smoother surface. Generally, the microstructures of Co doped zirconia powders consisted of large agglomerates with small particles on the surface.