Effect of Firing Temperatures on Phase and Morphology Evolution of CaZrO3 Ceramics Synthesized Using the Combustion Technique

The effects of calcination temperatures (900-1400 degrees C) and sintering temperatures (1400-1650 degrees C) on phase and morphology evolution of perovskite CaZrO3 ceramics were studied. The results obtained from DTA-TGA analysis were used to determine the processed conditions of various calcination temperatures. The highest purity of the orthorhombic perovskite phase was obtained from powder calcined at 1200 degrees C and the pure phase was detected in sintered ceramic samples below 1650 degrees C. The SEM results showed that the average particle size and the average grain size of samples increased with the increase of firing temperatures. The shrinkage of ceramics increased as the sintering temperatures increased. The calcium zirconate, which had around 97.6% of the theoretical density, was obtained from the sample sintered at 1500 degrees C for 2 h. More importantly, the highest density with low sintering temperature were be improved by the combustion technique.