Synthesis and Characterization of a Perovskite Barium Zirconate (BaZrO₃): An Experiment for an Advanced Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory

In this experiment, the students explore the synthesis of a crystalline solid-state material, barium zirconate (BaZrO 3 ) by two different synthetic methods: (a) the wet chemical method using BaCl 2 ·2H 2 O and ZrOCl 2 ·8H 2 O as the precursors, and (b) the solid-state reaction from BaCO 3 and ZrO 2 . BaZrO 3 adopts a perovskite structure with a cubic unit cell. The intermediate and the products are examined by various characterization techniques. The identity and the purity of the products are determined by powder X-ray diffraction technique. The structural information on the products is analyzed by the XRD patterns, where students apply the sin 2 θ-ratio method to determine the type and dimension of the unit cell. The composition of the Ba 2+ and Zr 4+ ions in the product is determined by the gravimetric analysis, while the vibrational modes of the product are observed by Infrared Spectroscopy.