Water/span80/Triton X-100/n-hexyl alcohol/n-octane microemulsion system and the study of its application for preparing nanosized zirconia

For the first time, a brand new microemulsion system (water/span80/Triton X-100/n-hexyl alcohol/n-octane) was studied and applied to prepare nanosized zirconia. In total, three types of aqueous phases (distilled water, 2.0 M ammonia solution, and 0.8 M ZrOCl2 aqueous solution) have been studied, leading to three different ternary phase diagrams. This work indicates that such microemulsion system has two distinct advantages: on the one hand, significant improvement in the solubilization capability has been obtained (as high as 50 vol.% water content can be achieved in our case in compared with the maximum value around 30 vol.% as in previous reported ones); on the other hand, the cloudy point in our system can be manipulated in a wide range by simply adjusting the content of Triton X-100. Taking these advantages into account, we have successfully prepared nanosized zirconia utilizing this system. Furthermore, the analyses of the recorded DTA, XRD, and TEM spectroscopies have revealed that the calcination conditions are essential for the crystal growth of nanosized zirconia.