A comparative study of CaO-P2O5-SiO2 gels prepared by a sol-gel method

This paper reports on the results concerning the preparation and systematic analysis of CaO-P2O5-SiO2 gels by a sol-gel process. The concentration of SiO2 influence on these gels and found the results are very encouraging. Studies have revealed that the concentration of SiO2 has a marginal influence on the phase formation of these gels. It has appreciable changes from less configured particles at lower values of concentration, with an ultimate growth in a highly crystalline fibrous nature at higher concentrations of SiO2. The authors have examined the changes in the morphology of these gels by a scanning electron microscope with an energy dispersive analyser (SEM/EDS techniques) and also from the profiles of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectral data and reported the crystalline product containing the fibrous beta-Ca(PO3)(2) as a major phase in the materials studied. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.