Synthesis of Oxide Ceramics in Detonating Atmosphere

A detonation process based on 2,4,6 trinitrotoluene (TNT), used as an energetic reagent, was successfully implemented in the synthesis of a series of metal oxide ceramics. TNT offers better physicochemical and mechanical properties than the energetic compounds traditionally used in such processes, thus offering safer handling and transport conditions. The experimental procedure, which consisted to of mixing the energetic molecule with a ceramic salt, was simple to perform. The detonation products were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning and transmission electron microscopies, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and nitrogen physisorption. The as-synthesized ceramic powders (CeO2, HfO2, Nb2O5, and In2O3) were crystalline and made of nano-sized quasi-spherical particles. This investigation provides an enhanced detonation synthesis process for elaborating ceramics. The majority of the oxide materials mentioned in this study had never previously been prepared by the detonation process.