Fabrication of Li2TiO3 pebbles by water-based sol–gel method

Fabrication of Li2TiO3 pebbles by wet process received great attention for their convenience to realize mass production and good performances. Li2TiO3 pebbles with about 1.4 mm in diameter were prepared by a water-based sol–gel method using Ti(C4H9O)4 and LiNO3 as raw materials. This process is simple and has not been reported previously. Phase analysis, thermal analysis and morphological observation were carried out with the pebbles. The experimental results showed that a large amount of pores were presented on the surface of the pebbles and the density of the pebbles was sensitive to the sintering temperature. The pebbles sintered at 1200 °C for 10 h reached a density of ∼68%T.D. The shape of the pebbles was favorable with an average sphericity of about 1.08.