Synthesis of zirconium diboride nano-powders by novel complex sol–gel technology at low temperature

Zirconium diboride nano-powders were synthesized by novel complex sol–gel technology at low temperature. Zirconium oxychloride as source of zirconium was complexed via adding propylene oxide that could form the stable zirconium sol by protonation and ring-opening reactions and boric acid as source of boron was dissolved effectively using glycerol that acted as complexing agent to create the boron network through forming stable coordination compound. Additionally, glycerol could be carbonized as source of carbon, which could replace the conventional carbon source additives. Then the mixed sols were gelated, dried, and exposed to 1,450 °C for 2 h with flowing argon in the furnace. High purity of ZrB2 nano-powders with spherical shape of ca. 200 nm were synthesized via carbothermal reduction. The mechanism of two complexing agents were discussed combining with the infrared spectroscopy analysis results, and the powder characteristics were performed by using X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy.