Fabrication of Al2O3-ZrO2 composite fibers by sol-gel method

Continuous Al2O3-ZrO2 (3mol%Y2O3) composite fibers were synthesized via a sol-gel centrifugal spinning technique. The precursor sols were fabricated using anhydrous aluminum chloride, aluminum powder, basic zirconium carbonate, yttrium acetate and acetic acid as raw materials. The properties of composite fibers were analyzed by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, Thermogravimetry (TG), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron micro-scopy (SEM). The results indicate that the precursor has an excellent stability and spinnability. The gel fibers have a maximum length to 70 cm, and completely transform to phase α-alumina and t-ZrO2 sintered at 1200 , which have a smooth surface and uniform diameter about 9 μm after drying. As the temperature increases, the grains grow up and tensile strength gradually decrease. ©, 2014, Chinese Ceramic Society. All right reserved.