Hydrothermal synthesis and characterization of nanostructured zirconium silicate (ZrSiO₄)

Abstract This research delineates the hydrothermal synthesis and comprehensive characterization of nanostructured zirconium silicate (ZrSiO₄) and its subsequent incorporation as a filler into a Poly Methyl Methacrylate (PMMA) matrix to form nanocomposites. In order to create ZrSiO₄ nano-ceramics, the first step was to pick two precursor materials, silicon dioxide and zirconium oxychloride octahydrate, then to carry out hydrothermal synthesis of the precursors into ZrSiO₄ nano-ceramics. Following synthesis of the ZrSiO₄ nano-ceramics, morphological characterization with Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) demonstrated that the ZrSiO₄ nano-ceramics were comprised of primary nanoparticles that had agglomerated into quasi-spherical structures and had also been linked together to form sintered sites. Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDX) demonstrated that the ZrSiO₄ nano-ceramics were comprised of the elements Zr, Si and O and how those three elements were distributed in the ZrSiO₄ nano-ceramics in a manner consistent with the formation of zirconium silicate, despite there being some differences from the ideal 1 to 1 to 4 ratio of Zr, Si, and O; therefore, additional studies were conducted to determine the mechanical and thermal properties of PMMA/ZrSiO₄ nanocomposites containing various amounts of ZrSiO₄ (0%, 1%, 3%, 5%, and 7 wt. % ZrSiO₄). For each of the PMMA/ZrSiO₄ nanocomposites, the data indicated that the density, as measured, increased with increasing ZrSiO₄; therefore, the hardness of the PMMA/ZrSiO₄ nanocomposites increased with increasing ZrSiO₄ content. Wear resistance for the PMMA/ZrSiO₄ nanocomposites was significantly improved over pure PMMA as was demonstrated by the generally lower tribological mass loss and wear rates. To further elucidate how the ZrSiO₄ nano-ceramic filler affected the PMMA matrix, the impact strength and thermal properties (thermal conductivity, effusivity, diffusivity and resistance) of the PMMA/ZrSiO₄ nanocomposites were also characterized. The results of the four analyses of the PMMA/ZrSiO₄ nanocomposites indicated tremendous potential for these nanocomposites for advanced engineering applications.