A new method for production of glass-Ln2Ti2O7 pyrochlore (Ln = Gd, Tb, Er, Yb)

Glass-Ln2Ti2O7 pyrochlore (Ln = Gd, Tb, Er, Yb) was fabricated by sintering the pelletized mixture of glass precursor and Ln-Ti composite at 1200 °C. The phase pure pyrochlore was in-situ crystallized in the amorphous glass matrix. The Ln-Ti composite was prepared by a simple soft chemistry route in an aqueous solution to ensure the homogeneity of the product. Thermal analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy techniques were employed to investigate the glass-Ln2Ti2O7 pyrochlore structure formation. The cell parameters for the pyrochlore structures by Le Bail fitting are in good agreement with the published data. The presence of the melting glass matrix facilitates the pyrochlore formation, with particle sizes in the range of 1-3 μm. This new aqueous synthetic method provides a simple pathway to produce glass-Ln2Ti2O7 pyrochlore without using organic solvent and/or milling procedures, making it an attractive potential method for scale-up production.