A new method for preparing AMZ composites: Coating zircon powder by aluminum alkoxide

This paper presents a new method for preparing alumina-mullite-zirconia (AMZ) composites. For this purpose, zircon particles were coated by aluminum alkoxide using a wet processing method. The effects of zircon particle size and aluminum alkoxide content)10, 30 and 50 wt % (on the reaction sintering of AMZ composites were investigated. The sintering of samples was carried out for 3 h at the maximum temperature of 1630 degrees C. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to investigate the coating process. Energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analysis was also performed to detect the alkoxide coating on zircon particles. The phase constituents of the sintered samples were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD) method and estimated using the Rietveld refinement method utilizing MAUD software. The results indicated that aluminum alkoxide promoted the formation of mullite phase and improved the microstructural homogeneity of the final composites. This new approach proposed that using aluminum alkoxide coated zircon can support obtaining desirable phases in the fabrication of AMZ composites. In this way, milling of zircon particles can help alkoxide to provide a homogenous coating.