One pot synthesis of a soluble polymer for zirconium carbide

A new polymer, polyzirconoxanesal (PZS), is synthesized from the reaction of zirconium oxychloride octahydrate (ZrOCl2·8H2O) with acetylacetone (Hacac) and salicyl alcohol (SA) by one-pot protocol. The polymer is soluble in common organic solvents, such as ethanol, methanol, acetone, tetrahydrofuran and chloroform, and exhibits rheology with viscosity of 100–300 mpa s at 25 °C. These properties are suitable for uses in fabrication of ceramic matrix fiber composites. Pyrolysis of this polymer at 1300 °C in argon provides nanosized ZrC with spherical morphology and size of 20–100 nm.