Determination of Ideal Broth Formulations Needed to Prepare Hydrous Hafnium Oxide Microspheres via the Internal Gelation Process

A simple test-tube methodology was used to determine optimum process parameters for preparing hydrous hafnium oxide microspheres by the internal gelation process. Broth formulations of hafnyl chloride [HfOCl{sub 2}], hexamethylenetetramine, and urea were found that can be used to prepare hydrous hafnium oxide gel spheres in the temperature range of 70-90 C. A few gel-forming runs were made in which microspheres were prepared with some of these formulations in order to equate the test-tube gelation times with actual gelation times. These preparations confirmed that the test-tube methodology is reliable for determining the ideal broths