Influence analysis of heat treatment on crystalline structure of ZrO2-SiO2 glass precursor synthesized by sol-gel method

xZrO(2)-(1-x) SiO2 glass precursor with relatively high concentration of zirconium propoxide in metal alkoxide solution was obtained by sol-gel method and then heated at various temperature from 500 to 1,100 degrees C to investigate the effect of the thermal treatment on the crystalline structure of the glass precursor. Based on X-ray diffraction analysis, the crystalline peak was started to develop at temperature higher than 600 degrees C, and the crystalline phase was considerably increased at 850 degrees C or higher. With increasing the thermal treatment temperature, the characteristic peaks, such as baddelyite, tetragonal-ZrO2 and zircon, was shown at 35 degrees, 50 degrees and 60 degrees of 2 theta.