Structural Characterization of Tetragonal ZrO2 Derived from Zircon Sand: Crystal and Local Atomic Insights Budi Hariyanto1,2, Chatree Saiyasombat3, Retno Asih1, Suminar Pratapa1*
1Department of Physics, Faculty of Science and Data Analytics, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS), Surabaya 60111, Indonesia
2Department of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Science, Universitas Palangka Raya, Palangka Raya 73111, Indonesia
3Synchrotron Light Research Institute (Public Organization), 111 University Avenue, Muang District, Nakhon Ratchasima 30000, Thailand
Abstract
Crystallographic analysis of ZrO2 powder derived from zircon sand was performed using ex-situ conventional X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and synchrotron extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) techniques. The ZrO2 powder was purified through alkali fusion and co-precipitation methods, utilizing zircon sand as the primary raw material. Phase analysis of the XRD data demonstrated that the as-synthesized powder, after calcination at 1000 C for 3 hours, yielded a pure tetragonal ZrO2 (t-ZrO2). Further structural analysis was conducted using the Rietveld refinement method, which provided the following lattice parameters: a = b = 3.5962(1) A, c = 5.1953(3) A, and unit cell volume V = 67.186(6) A3. The Zr-O shell in tetragonal ZrO2 was observed to consist of two distinct tetrahedra, designated as Zr-OI and Zr-OII. The EXAFS analysis of the local atomic structure around the Zr atoms revealed that the bond lengths for Zr-OI and Zr-OII were 2.112(7) A and 2.377(4) A, respectively. These findings provide valuable insight into the atomic-level structure of tetragonal ZrO2 derived from zircon sand.
Keywords: t-ZrO2, zircon sand, crystal structure, local structure
