Effect of Ionic Substitution on the Thermal Expansion of ZrTiO4

This paper reports on oxide compounds with {alpha} {center dot} PbO{sub 2} structure that have been synthesized by solid-state reactions. These are derived from Zr-TiO{sub 4} and HfTiO{sub 4} by a different kind of ionic substitution. The thermal expansion behavior of these phases was investigated by means of a dilatometer and an x-ray heating diffractometer. These measurements revealed rather low expansion for some of the Zr(Me{sup 3+}/Me{sup 5+})O{sub 4} solid solutions. This behavior is attributed to their high expansion anisotropy, which leads to extended formation of microcracks.