Transparent La2−xGdxZr2O7 ceramics obtained by combustion method and vacuum sintering

• Combustion method and vacuum sintering were used to fabricate La2-xGdxZr2O7.
• The lattice parameters decreased with the increase of Gd3+ concent(x).
• The absorption edge of the transmittance curves shifted to UV region from 0.4-2.0.
•  All the ceramics have high n (2.08), making them candidate for optical lens.
• With the increase of x, the effective atomic number and density increased.

Transparent La2−xGdxZr2O7 (x = 0–2.0) ceramics were prepared via vacuum sintering from nanometric powders synthesized by a simple combustion method. The changes of phase composition, morphology and in-line transmittance of the resulting ceramics with Gd3+ content’s variation were investigated. With the increase of Gd3+ content, the samples keep the pyrochlore structure, but the X-ray diffraction peaks of the powders and ceramics shift to higher angle as the lattice parameters become smaller. All the ceramics are transparent with high in-line transmittance and high refractive index (2.08 @ 632.8 nm, x = 0.4–1.6). These results indicate that La2−xGdxZr2O7 ceramics might be used as optical lens. Moreover, with the increase of Gd3+ content, the effective atomic number and density of the ceramics increase, therefore making them promising host candidates for scintillators.