With the assistance of a rosin-based surfactant, dehydroabietyltrimethyl ammonium bromine (DTAB), well-dispersed hollow cube-like zirconia particles were firstly synthesized by the hydrothermal treatment of ZrOCl2 aqueous solutions. The introduction of DTAB is crucial for improving the dispersion and regularity of the as-synthesized sample. After calcination, the crystal size of the calcined samples increased, and the edge angle of the cube-like particles became round accordingly. Finally, a hollow spherical morphology was formed for the sample calcined at 923 K. The as-synthesized sample showed big surface area of 146.78 m2/g and large pore volume of 0.23 cm3/g. With the increase of calcination temperature, the surface area and pore volume of the samples decreased significantly, and the pore size increased accordingly.
Morphology-Controllable Hydrothermal Synthesis of Zirconia with the Assistance of a Rosin-Based Surfactant