Claims
- 1. A process for producing ultra-fine particles of calcia-stabilized zirconia, comprising the steps of:
- (a) forming droplets of a ceramic precursor mixture containing from about 80 to about 96 mole percent of zirconium ion (by total moles of zirconium ion and calcium ion) and from about 20 to about 4 mole percent of calcium ion, a nitrogen-containing fuel, a solvent, and an anion capable of participating in an anionic oxidation-reduction reaction with the nitrogen-containing fuel, wherein said nitrogen-containing fuel is of the formula R.(HA).sub.a, and wherein:
- 1. a in an integer of from 0 to 2,
- 2. HA is selected from the group consisting of HNO.sub.3, HCl, HBr, HI, H.sub.2 SO.sub.4, H.sub.2 O, and CH.sub.3 COOH,
- 3. R is of the formula ##STR2## wherein: R.sub.1, R.sub.2, R.sub.3, and R.sub.4 are independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, alkyl of from 1 to 4 carbon atoms, and phenyl, a' is an integer of from 0 to 2, b is an integer of from 1 to 2, c is an integer of from 0 to 2, and a' plus c is at least 1;
- (b) removing at least about 85 weight percent of the solvent from the droplets of the ceramic precursor mixture to form particles comprising the metal cations, the anion, and the nitrogen-containing fuel, thereby forming dried particles; and
- (c) subjecting said dried particles to a temperature of from about 275 to about 750 degrees centigrade and an atmosphere with a relative humidity of less than about 60 percent, thereby causing said dried particles to react in a vigorous manner and to form a combusted powder.
- 2. The process as recited in claim 1, further comprising the steps of:
- (a) milling said combusted powder until substantially all of the particles of such powder are smaller than about 0.5 microns, thereby forming a milled combusted powder;
- (b) forming said milled combusted powder into a green body;
- (c) heating said green body from ambient to a temperature of from about 1,200 to about 1,500 degrees centigrade at a rate of from about 250 to about 1,000 degrees centigrade per minute and, thereafter, maintaining said green body at a temperature of from about 1,200 to about 1,500 degrees centigrade for at least about 0.5 minutes.
- 3. The process as recited in claim 1, wherein said anion is nitrate ion.
- 4. The process as recited in claim 1, wherein said ceramic precursor mixture is comprised of from about 80 to about 96 weight percent of zirconyl nitrate.
- 5. The process as recited in claim 4, wherein said ceramic precursor mixture is comprised of from about 4 to about 20 weight percent of calcium nitrate.
- 6. The process as recited in claim 4, wherein said solvent is water.
- 7. The process as recited in claim 1, wherein at least about 80 weight percent of said droplets have a maximum dimension of about 6 microns.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION
This case is a continuation-in-part of patent application U.S. Ser. No. 08/127,637, filed Sep. 27, 1993, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,468,427.
US Referenced Citations (2)
Number |
Name |
Date |
Kind |
4065544 |
Hamling et al. |
Dec 1977 |
|
5061682 |
Aksay et al. |
Oct 1991 |
|
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
127637 |
Sep 1993 |
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