Synthesis, Different Characterizations and Pigment Application of Nanoceramic Zirconate Powder

In this work, several attempts were made to prepare nanoceramic zirconate (Nd₂Zr₂O₇) powder for pigment applications. The single pyrochlore phase, Nd₂Zr₂O₇ was successfully synthesized with the aid of flux at relatively low temperature (1000 °C) upon milling the reaction mixture made from Nd₂O₃ and ZrO₂ in a tungsten carbide vial. Several characterizations were done on the thermal analysis (TG/DTA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), High-resolution scanning electron microscope (HRSEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis, Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) analysis, and near-infrared (NIR spectroscopy). A single-phase nanocrystalline (˜28 nm) pyrochlore structure (Fd3m) was confirmed through XRD analysis. A highly uniform particle in the size of ˜110 nm was observed for the Nd₂Zr₂O₇ phase in the microimages. The vibrational (FT-IR) peaks at 423 cm^-1 and 510 cm^-1 in FTIR spectroscopic study confirmed the formation of pyrochlore structure. Higher NIR reflectivity recorded for this material in the 750-2500 nm region shows its novel application in color cool pigments for energy-saving paints reminiscent of Bi^2-YCe²O⁷, Bi²Ce^2-TbxO⁷, and Gd²Ti²O⁷.