Phase and microstructural evolutions of the CeO2–ZrO2–SiO2 system synthesized by the sol–gel process

Abstract In this paper, a sol–gel method was employed to synthesis the zircon and Ce-doped zircon in the (CeO 2 –)ZrO 2 –SiO 2 system. The evolutions of their phase and microstructure with the changing composition and the sintering temperature were studied. It was found that the formation rates of zircon increase initially and then decrease with the increase of sintering temperature, and reach their maximum at 1500–1550 °C, while those of Ce-doped zircon present a decrease trend from 1400 °C to 1600 °C. The results of XRD patterns and Raman spectrum suggest that the loadings of cerium in the zircon lattices decrease with the increase of sintering temperature from 1400 °C to 1600 °C. SEM images show that very compact structure of (CeO 2 –)ZrO 2 –SiO 2 can be achieved by a sol–gel process, and both the increase of sintering temperature and the adding of cerium are beneficial to the growth of crystalline grains.