Battelle-Europe, Geneva Research Centres, 7, route de Drize, 1227 -, Carouge/Geneva, Switzerland
Mitsubishi Chemical Industries, Ltd, 5-2, Marunouchi, 2 Chome, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Abstract:
The sol-gel preparation of porous spherical beads in the system SiO2---ZrO2---TiO2---Al2O3 is described. A uniformly reacted single precursor is dispersed in an aqueous phase and the as-formed droplets are gelled by the addition of NH4OH. After drying, the spheres are subsequently oxidized and partially densified by heat treatments in air. Physico-chemical data indicate that these materials are glassy up to about 650°C and are more resistant to chemical attack than pure silica samples.