Ceramic materials and their synthesis by a xerogel process

摘要

The invention provides a process for producing high phase purity ceramic materials through the utilization of organic gelling agents. The process comprises the following steps: (a) dissolving stoichiometric amounts of metal salts in a solvent to form a solution; (b) heating the solution to a temperature sufficient to dissolve the gelling agent; (c) dissolving from about 0.1 to about 50 weight percent of an organic gelling agent into the heated solution; (d) cooling the solution to form a gel; (e) drying the gel to form a xerogel precursor; and (f) subjecting the xerogel precursor to a calcination process to produce a high phase purity ceramic material.