ISSN (Print): 2328-3777, ISSN (Online): 2328-3785, ISSN (CD-ROM): 2328-3793
American International Journal of
Research in Formal, Applied
& Natural Sciences
AIJRFANS 19-301; © 2019, AIJRFANS All Rights Reserved Page 1
AIJRFANS is a refereed, indexed, peer-reviewed, multidisciplinary and open access journal published by
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(An Association Unifying the Sciences, Engineering, and Applied Research)
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Thermal Expansion Properties of Mixed Oxide ZrxTi1-xO2 Nanoparticles
Deepak Kumar Sharma, Jagdhar Mandal
University Department of Physics
T.M. Bhagalpur University
Bhagalpur-812007, Bihar
INDIA
I. Introduction
The nanocomposites of mixed metal oxides can be tailored to have unique material characteristics by changing
some physical, chemical, electronic and magnetic properties [1]. The combination of titania-zirconia mixed oxides
have found widespread use as catalyst and catalyst support [2],[3] such as in photocatalysis, water photosplitting,
gas sensors and in solid oxide fuel cells, composite materials, etc.[4], [7-12]. TiO2 in the macrocrystalline forms
and nanocrystalline forms has major industrial applications such as in plastics, pigments, cosmetics and as a well
known catalyst [5]. It exists in a number of polymorphs,of which rutile (tetragonal) is the stable phase and anatase
and brookite are metastable[6]. ZrO2 also exists in a number of polymorphs of which tetragonal and the cubic
polymorphs are used in catalytic applications due to their high thermal stability and amphoteric nature [2].The
properties of the mixed oxides can be easily manipulated by controlling their composition. However their
synthesis results in a mixture of different crystalline phases or pure material with varying particle sizes and
changes in specific areas. Earlier the solubility limit of TiO2 in Zirconia, limited the doping concentration in ZrxTi1-
xO2 nanoparticles but now it has significantly increased under high temperature and high pressure experiments
[11], [12]. ZrxTi1-xO2 (0.0≤x≤1.0) mixed oxide nanoparticles show structural transformations under high
temperatures with changes in crystalline cell parameters and phase transformations with varying concentrations
of the doping material [12], [13]. Hayashi et al. have also reported considerable changes in the thermal properties
for various mixed oxides [14], [15].
The behavior of the thermoelastic constants under the effect of temperature have been studied extensively both
theoretically and experimentally for the bulk materials as well as the nanomaterials. There have been several
equations of states to study the thermoelastic properties for different classes of solids [16]-[21]. However, in the
proposed equation of state by assuming the linear dependence of Anderson Gruneisen parameter (δ T) with
temperature we get better results on thermoelastic properties. Hence by using the Singh and Gupta [22] equation
of state we have calculated the thermoelastic properties such as the thermal expansivity and relative bulk modulus
for titanium dioxide-zirconium dioxide mixed oxides nanoparticles with varying concentrations of x : ZrxTi1-
xO2 (0.0≤ x≤ 1.0).
II. Method of Analysis
One of the widely used thermodynamic approximation is that the product of thermal expansion coefficient (α) and
the isothermal bulk modulus (KT) remains constant under the effect of temperature, i.e.
αKT = constant (1)
Differentiation of equation (1) with respect to T, at constant pressure gives
Abstract: We present a theoretical model using the proposed equation of state to study the thermoelastic
properties of the mixed oxide ZrxTi1-xO2 (0.0≤x≤1.0) nanoparticles under high temperatures. The
thermoelastic properties viz. the thermal expansivity, relative bulk modulus of the mixed oxide nanoparticles
ZrxTi1-xO2 and their variation with temperature have been discussed and compared with their experimental
results. The variation in the concentration of the doping material ‘x’ in the host matrix TiO2 and the
corresponding changes in the thermoelastic behavior of mixed oxide ZrxTi1-xO2 (0.0≤x≤1.0) nanoparticles
have also been discussed in light of the observed phase transitions.
Keywords: Mixed oxide ZrxTi1-xO2 nanoparticles; Thermal expansion; Bulk modulus; Phase transition