Synthesis of negative thermal expansion material ZrW₂O₈ through co-precipitation method

ZrW₂O₈ was economically synthesized from ZrOCl₂·8H₂O and H₂WO₄ through co-precipitation route. The phases of the synthesized powders were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), the morphology was observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and the synthesized temperature was determined by differential thermal gravimetric analysis. The result reveals that the suitable pH value of co-precipitation of Zr⁴⁺ and WO₄^2- was 2-3. After the precursor was heated at 1200℃ for 1 h, the main phase of the synthesized powders was ZrW₂O₈. The particle size of ZrW₂O₈ powders wad about 100 nm and distributed homogeneously.