Hydrothermal synthesis of (Zr,Sn)TiO4 nano-powders for microwave ceramics

(Zr,Sn)TiO4 nano-powders for microwave ceramics were prepared by a hydrothermal synthesis route. Raw materials of ZrOCl2<AR>, ZrO(NO3)2<AR>, SnCl2<CP>, TiO2<CP> and de-ionized water were used, and the mixture was stirred in an auto-clave at 160–230 °C. Resulting powders with particle size of 10–120 nm were washed, dried and pressed into pellets, which were then sintered at 1200–1300 °C. The sintering process was analyzed by TGA and DTA. Microstructures of the powder and sintered ceramics were observed by TEM and SEM. Crystalline phases of the ceramics were identified by XRD. Dielectric properties of the samples were: dielectric constant 30–45 and Q*f=10,000–25,000 GHz at 10 GHz.