Montagem de um dispositivo para espectroscopia de ressonância de ultrassom e aplicação na análise da relaxação estrutural da fase amorfa do tungstato de zircônio

Abstract

Zirconium tungstate (ZrW2O8) is a ceramic material, which exhibits cubic symmetry, first prepared some 50 years ago by Graham et al. and presents a series of unusual properties, most notably the isotropic contraction when heated. ZrW2O8 also undergoes amorphization induced by high pressures (between 1.5 GPa and 2.0 GPa). The amorphous phase is retained after pressure release, which is attributed to the formation of new W-O bonds. The amorphous phase recrystallizes abnormally, endothermically, when heated to temperatures above 600 °C. Before that, amorphous ZrW2O8 undergoes an interesting structural relaxation phenomenon, exothermic and continuous above ambient temperature, which is also evidenced by an irreversible increase of the sample dimensions after heated. The phenomenon of relaxation can be understood as a result of breaking up the new W-O bonds formed in the amorphization process. In this work, a device for ultrasonic resonance spectroscopy, was assembled and used to monitor the effect of the structural relaxation of amorphous zirconium tungstate on the elastic constants of this material. The amorphous phase of ZrW2O8 was produced at 7.7 GPa for 2 hours, at room temperature. The technique of resonant ultrasound spectroscopy (RUS) was used to allows, in a single experiment, the determination of all components of the elasticity tensor. For this purpose, a RUS device was automated, enabling the analysis of small samples in the form of parallelepipeds, cylinders or spheres. The irreversible evolution of the elastic constants c11 and c12 during structural relaxation of amorphous zirconium tungstate was followed by obtaining RUS spectra of samples subjected to successive heat treatments up to 640 °C. The results demonstrate a common dependence on the temperature of heat treatment in the structural relaxation effect on the elastic constants of amorphous zirconium tungstate.