Simultaneous thermal/mass spectral investigations of ammonium exchanged zirconium phosphates and zirconium arsenates

The half- and fully-ammonium ion exchanged forms of α- and γ-zirconium phosphates and of α-zirconium arsenate have been prepared. Their modes of thermal decomposition were studied by thermal methods of analysis, including simultaneous DTA/mass spectrometry. The samples heated to various temperatures were also characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis together with IR spectroscopy. The loss of water and ammonia of the various exchanged samples is compared in terms of the changes taking place in the layer lattice upon heating. The use of DTA/MS for a system involving water and ammonia as volatiles is demonstrated