SYNTHESIS AND THERMAL-EXPANSION BEHAVIOR OF BA1+XZR4P6-2XSI2XO24 AND SR1+XZR4P6-2XSI2XO24 SYSTEMS

NaZr2P3O12 (NZP) is emerging as an important family of a large number of isostructural compounds in which several members have demonstrated very low thermal expansion characteristics. Ba1+xZr4P6-2xSi2xO24 and Sr1+xZr4P6-2xSi2xO24 crystalline solutions are two such systems belonging to the NZP family. Here, we report the bulk thermal expansion and axial thermal expansion behavior of various compositions in these systems. The low expansion behavior of these materials is attributed to their unique crystal structure, which is framework open structure, and can accommodate numerous ionic substitutions at various lattice sites.