Synthesis of Ceramic Powders by Wet Chemical Routes

Ideal physico-chemical characteristics of a ceramic powder include submicron or nanometric particle size, narrow particle size distribution, controlled shape and morphology, minimum degree of agglomeration, high chemical purity, chemical and phase homogeneity, controlled surface chemistry, low intraparticle porosity, minimum weight loss upon heating. Current technologies offer many alternative approaches for preparing powders with ideal or near-ideal characteristics. There are many technologies to choose from, which enables engineers to make virtually any ceramic composition with the desired physical and chemical characteristics. This contribution deals with wet-chemical approaches to synthesize ceramic particles, by classifying them into three categories: (1) chemistry in the bulk liquid phase; (2) chemistry between heterogeneous phases; and (3) chemistry in a droplet, depending on the site where the chemical reactions to form particles take place.