Combustion assisted synthesis of hardystonite nanopowder

In this study, single-phase hardystonite (Ca2ZnSi2O6) nanopowder was synthesized by combustion synthesis method from aqueous solution of Calcium nitrate, Zinc nitrate and Tetraethyl orthosilicate. In order to characterize the obtained powders, X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used. The effect of sucrose concentration on the purity and morphology of the obtained hardystonite powder, and its initial annealing temperature was investigated. The optimum sucrose to metal ratio was found to be 2:1. The average particle size and the maximum crystallite size of the produced hardystonite nanopowder were 220 and 40 nm, respectively.