| Summary: | Zirconia is one of the most studied ceramic materials due to its outstanding thermal, mechanical and chemical stability; in addition, acidic, basic, oxidizing and reducing surface properties make this oxide suitable for many catalytic processes [1-3]. Depending on the preparation method and thermal treatment, monoclinic, tetragonal, cubic, or a mixture of these phases can be obtained. The sol-gel method has attracted considerable attention for the preparation of metallic catalysts, since the constituents are mixed in an atomic scale and this generates a uniform distribution of active metals upon the support [4]. The crystalline phase obtained by the sol-gel method can strongly depend on the starting metallic precursor.
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