TITLE:
The Influence of Agitation Speed on the Morphology and Size Particle Synthesis of Zr(HPO4)2·H2O from Mexican Sand
AUTHORS:
Garcia Rosales Genoveva, Ordónez Regil Enrique, Romero Guzmán Elizabeth Teresita, Ordónez Regil Eduardo
KEYWORDS:
Zirconium sand; Zirconium phosphates; α-ZP surface morphology; α-ZP synthesis.
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Minerals and Materials Characterization and Engineering,
Vol.6 No.1,
June
12,
2007
ABSTRACT: Mexican zirconium sand has been envisaged like a source of zirconium compounds. The main
product obtained is zircon (ZrSiO4), which has a high raw material value. During a mineralogical purification sand process with hydrofluoric acid, a liquor was obtained as the
by product. This liquor was dripped over hot phosphoric acid to obtain zirconium hydrogen
phosphate Zr(HPO4)2·H2O (α-ZP) which has taken considerably attention due to its wide application. Both products zircon and α-ZP were analyzed as for structure and purity using analytic techniques. X-Ray diffraction revealed that zircon and α-ZP were polycrystalline materials. Scanning Electron Microscopy indicated that α-ZP formed particles and aggregates in different shapes and size distributions depending on the condensing way and the
agitation speed. Furthermore, thermogravimetric analysis demonstrated that the α-ZP phases
present different hydrated levels. FTIR spectra were obtained to identify the corresponding PO
stretching vibration from the α-ZP and the specific surface areas were calculated by BET
method.