Influence of Synthetic Approach of SiO2-ZrO2 Materials

Abstract

Abstract In the present manuscript, the effect of the synthetic route on the properties of SiO2-ZrO2 has been evaluated. Co-precipitation, sol-gel and microwave methods were adopted for synthesizing the structured oxide. The properties of the final products such as surface morphology, crystallinity, surface area, pore volume and size, particle size and total acidity were examined using standard instrumentation like Fe-SEM, XRD, BET and TPD. The results revealed that the mixed oxides were mesoporous in nature with a high BET surface area (315- 435m2/g). Among various methods, the microwave route achieved the highest surface area (433m2/g), pore volume (0.70cc/g) and pore size (6.50nm). The total acidity of the sample synthesized by the microwave reactor was also higher (0.296mmol/g) than that resulting from other methods. Results conclude that microwave method is a suitable choice for synthesizing the structured oxides with desirable properties.