Morphology and Elemental Composition of Cerate-Zirconate Compound as-Prepared by a Sol-Gel Technique

Powder of $BaCe_{0.54}Zr_{0.36}Y_{0.1}O_{2.95}$ (BCZY) ceramics compound was synthesized by a modified sol-gel method using triethylenetetraamine, TETA as a chelating agent. The samples were dried and calcined at 325°C and 1100°C, respectively. The resulting powder properties were characterized using Particle Size Analyzer (PSA), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), X-Ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy (XRF) and Energy Dispersive X-Ray (EDX). At calcination temperature of 1100°C, the sample shows particles with high purity, spherical shape and a single particle size distribution in the range of 342-396 nm. XRF and EDX analysis revealed that the elemental composition of Ba, Ce, Zr and Y present in the sample is almost the same as the nominal stoichiometric composition of BCZY compound. Thus, TETA is one of the potential chelating agents that can be used to synthesize high purity and homogeneous spherically grained cerate-zirconate powders.