Characterization and synthesis of pure ZrO2 nanopowders via sonochemical method

Pure ZrO{sub 2} nanopowders have been synthesized via sonochemical method, which is a simple and energy efficient way to synthesize inorganic materials. The as-synthesized samples (hydrous zirconia, ZrO{sub 2}{center_dot}nH{sub 2}O) are characterized by several techniques: X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), photoluminescence spectrometer (PLS) and Raman spectrometer (RS). It is shown that t-ZrO{sub 2} samples have two photoluminescence (PL) bands corresponding to the wavelengths of excitations of 254 and 412 nm. The structure of as-synthesized samples (ZrO{sub 2}{center_dot}nH{sub 2}O) and the formation mechanism of ZrO{sub 2} nanopowders are also discussed.