Near zero coefficient of thermal expansion of beta-eucryptite without microcracking

1. A method for producing a doped low thermal expansion lithia alumina silica material, comprising:

mixing a source of silica comprising an orthosilicate with an alcohol and a water to produce a first mixture comprising a first volumetric ratio of about 0.5 to about 1.5 parts of the orthosilicate to about 1.0 parts of the alcohol, and a second volumetric ratio of about 0.1 to about 1.0 parts of the water to about 1.0 part of the orthosilicate;

adjusting the pH of the first mixture to between about 0.5 and about 4.0 by addition of an acid to produce a pH adjusted mixture;

modifying the pH adjusted mixture by adding a source of alumina comprising an aluminum salt, adding a source of lithia comprising a lithium salt, and adding a metal salt, wherein the metal salt comprises a metal and a counter-ion, to produce a suspension comprising an elemental ratio of about 1 part of aluminum to about 1 part silicon to about 1 part lithium, and a metal concentration in the range of about 0.01 mole % to about 10 mole % of the metal, wherein the metal concentration is relative to the total amounts of the lithium in the suspension; and processing the suspension to produce the doped low thermal expansion lithia alumina silica material.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the orthosilicate comprises an alkyl orthosilicate.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the alkyl orthosilicate is selected from the group consisting of tetramethylorthosilicate, tetraethylorthosilicate, tetrapropylorthosilicate, tetrabutylorthosilicate, tetrapentylorthosilicate and mixtures thereof.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the alkyl orthosilicate is selected from the group consisting of tetramethylorthosilicate, tetraethylorthosilicate and mixtures thereof.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the alcohol is selected from the group consisting of methanol, ethanol, n-propanol, i-propanol, n-butanol, i-butanol, pentanol and mixtures thereof.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the water is selected from the group consisting of treated water, untreated water, and mixtures thereof.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first volumetric ratio is in the range from about 0.9 to about 1.1 parts of the orthosilicate to about 1.0 parts of the alcohol.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second volumetric ratio is in the range from about 0.4 to about 0.6 parts of the water to about 1.0 parts of the orthosilicate.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the acid is an inorganic acid selected from the group consisting of nitric acid, hydrochloric acid, phosphoric acid, sulfuric acid, boric acid, hydrofluoric acid, hydrobromic acid, and mixtures thereof.

10. The method of claim 1 , the aluminum salt comprises a counter-ion selected from the group consisting of sulfates, nitrates, phosphates, carbonates and mixtures thereof.

11. The method of claim 1 , the lithium salt comprises a counter-ion selected from the group consisting of sulfates, nitrates, phosphates, carbonates and mixtures thereof.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the metal is selected from the group consisting of alkali metals, alkaline earth metals, transition metals, post-transition metals, rare earth metals, and mixtures thereof.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the metal comprises zinc.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the metal salt is zinc nitrate.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein processing comprises:

adjusting the suspension with a base to obtain a gel;

drying the gel to obtain a powder;

calcining the powder to produce a calcined powder;

grinding the calcined powder to produce a ground powder; and

sintering the ground powder to produce the low thermal expansion lithia alumina silica material.

16. A method for producing a zinc doped low thermal expansion lithia alumina silica material, comprising:

mixing for a time period between about 30 minutes to about 60 minutes a silica source comprising tetraethylorthosilicate with ethanol and distilled water to produce a mixture comprising a first volumetric ratio of about 1.0 parts of the tetraethylorthosilicate to about 1.0 parts of the ethanol, and a second volumetric ratio of about 0.5 parts of the distilled water to about 1.0 parts of the tetraethylorthosilicate;

adjusting the pH of the mixture to between about 0.5 and about 4.0 by addition of nitric acid to produce a pH adjusted mixture;

modifying the pH adjusted mixture by adding a source of aluminum comprising aluminum nitrate, adding a source of lithium comprising lithium nitrate, and adding a source of zinc comprising zinc nitrate, to produce a suspension comprising an elemental ratio of about 1 part of aluminum to about 1 part silicon to about 1 part lithium, and a zinc concentration of between about 0.01 mole % to about 10 mole % of zinc, wherein the zinc concentration is relative to the total amounts of the alumina, the lithia, the silica, and the zinc in the suspension;

forming a gel by adding aqueous ammonia to the suspension;

drying the gel at a temperature between about 60° C. to about 100° C. for a period of time between about 24 hours to about 48 hours to produce a powder;

calcining the powder at a temperature between about 900° C. to about 1200° C. for a period of time between about 10 hours to about 36 hours to form a calcined powder;

grinding the calcined powder to form a ground powder comprising a nominal particle size of about between about 1 μm to about 2 μm; and

sintering the ground powder at a temperature between about 1100° C. and about 1300° C. for between about 1 hour to about 4 hours, under an applied load of between about 20 MPa to about 40 MPa, in a vacuum hot press to produce the zinc doped low thermal expansion lithia alumina silica material.

17. The method of claim 5 , wherein the alcohol is ethanol.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein the doped low thermal expansion lithia alumina silica material is a zinc doped low thermal expansion lithia alumina silica material.

19. The method of claim 12 , wherein the metal comprises the alkaline earth metal.

20. The method of claim 12 , wherein the metal comprises the transition metal.