8 mol% MgO-ZrO2 nano-sized powders have been synthesized through the coprecipitation route using ammonia as precipitant. In order to investigate the agglomeration of the nano powders during synthesis, water, butyl alcohol, and a mixture of butyl alcohol and ethanol were utilized as the solvents to precipitate and wash. The characteristics of the different powders were estimated by FT-IR, TG-DSC, XRD and SEM. It has been demonstrated that uniformly dispersed and soft agglomerates containing MgO-ZrO2 nano-sized powders can be obtained when the butyl alcohol, especially the butyl alcohol and ethanol mixture are used. It has been found that the hydroxyl group on the particle surface is replaced by the alkoxy group to alleviate the hard agglomerate.

Keywords: MgO-ZrO2, Nano powder, Butyl alcohol, Ethanol, Solvent.