Effects of solvent composition on morphology and size distribution of YSZ particles synthesized by flame spray pyrolysis

Yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) ultrafine particles were synthesized by flame spray pyrolysis method and the effects of solvent composition on morphology and particle size were studied. Particles were examined by using X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Only tetragonal phase particles were synthesized by using different precursor solutions. SEM results showed dense and spherical submicron-sized particles as well as micron-sized cracked shell-like structures were prepared from distilled water solution. While, when applying ethanol as solvent, there were only dense and spherical submicron-sized particles formed. When ethanol and 2-EHA mixture were used as solvent, the as-prepared particles exhibited a bimodel size distribution, both submicron-and nano- sized particles were observed. Particle size was controlled by varying the volume ratio of ethanol to 2-EHA. As the increase of 2-EHA's percentage in solvent, average size of as-prepared particles decreased. The mechanism of particle formation was analyzed in this paper.