Synthesis of ZrN Nanopowder via Soft Urea Pathway

doi:10.15541/jim20140259

Abstract

Abstract:

High pure ZrN nanopowder was synthesized from Z-U or ZO-U precusors by using ZrCl₄ and ZrOCl₂·8H₂O as zirconium source, urea as solid N source. The preceramic precursors characterized by FT-IR were prepared via coordination between zirconium ions and urea molecules. Both precursors were further pyrolyzed at relatively low temperatures to yield ZrN. XRD and SEM techniques were used to examine the microstructures of the ceramic powders, while TG-DTA was used to study the pyrolysis process. It appears that the crystal water has strong effect on the coordination chemistry of Zr ions, resulting in obvious differences in molecular structures of two precursors. Such structural differences have strong effects on purity and morphologies of the as-prepared ZrN nanopowder. Apparently, the Z-U precursor from ZrCl₄ is more liable to acquire high pure ZrN nanopowder.

Key words: ZrN, urea, nanopowder

CLC Number:

TG174

MA Xi-Fei, KANG Zhuang, HUANG Xiao, ZHANG Guo-Jun. Synthesis of ZrN Nanopowder via Soft Urea Pathway[J]. Journal of Inorganic Materials, 2015, 30(1): 77-80.

Figures/Tables 5

Fig. 1 IR spectra of urea, Z-U and ZO-U

Fig. 2 Proposed molecular structure of ZO-U and Z-U

Fig. 3 TG and DTA curves of the Z-U and ZO-U precursors

Fig. 4 XRD patterns of the products from different precursors pyrolyzed at different temperatures. From top to bottom: products of Z-U pyrolyzed at 1400℃, 1200℃, 1000℃ and ZO-U pyrolyzed at 1400℃ in N2 for 2 h, respectively

Fig. 5 SEM images of the products from different precursors pyrolyzed at 1400℃ (a, b) from Z-U; (c, d) from ZO-U

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