Microstructural evolution in sol-gel derived P2O5-doped cordierite powders

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the effect of various amounts of P2 O5 additive on the microstructural evolution of cordierite. In this researc h work, cordierite powders were prepared by sol-gel processing. The phase a nd microstructural evolution of the powders were characterised by DTA, XRD and SEM. The P2O5 additive was found to promote the mu-cordierite to alpha- cordierite transition at low concentrations, while a non-steady effect was shown for higher concentrations. The effect of P2O5 on the activation of co rdierite can be attributed to the nucleation of P2O5 and the formation of m ullite and xMgO-P2O5 based compounds (x = 3, 2, 1). (C) 2000 Elsevier Scien ce Ltd. All rights reserved.