Preparation of Silica Microspheres Coated by Nano-ZrO2

Silica microspheres coated by nanoZrO2 were prepared by the sol-gel process using butoxidesolution (TBOZ) as precursor. The nanomicrospheres were formed via hydrolysis and condension reaction of metal alkoxides with the hydroxyl (-OH) of silica microspheres by form Zr-O-Si bonds. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, FT-IR and SEM. Presence of the FT-IR bands with frequencies ranging from 800 to 900 cm-1 can be assigned to SiO vibration, and to ZrOSi stretching vibration. XRD analysis shows obviously the characteristic diffraction peaks of tetragonal (T-ZrO2) in the sample by heat-treatment at 400°C. The SEM image showed that the surface layers of silica microspheres were coated by nanoparticles.