Fabrication of α-alumina by a combination of a hydrothermal process and a seeding technique

Abstract

This paper describes a method for producing [Formula: see text]-Al2O3 at low temperatures by a combination of a hydrothermal process and a seeding technique. White aluminum hydroxide precipitate was prepared by a homogeneous precipitation method using aluminum nitrate and urea in aqueous solution. Peptization of the precipitate by acetic acid at room temperature transformed it into a transparent alumina sol. The alumina sol was treated with a hydrothermal process. [Formula: see text]-Al2O3 particles serving as seeds were added to the hydrothermally treated alumina sol. The sol containing the [Formula: see text]-Al2O3 particles was transformed into an [Formula: see text]-Al2O3-seeded alumina gel by drying at room temperature. The non-seeded alumina gel was amorphous or showed fine crystallites and began to crystallize into [Formula: see text]-Al2O3 at 900[Formula: see text]C. The [Formula: see text]-Al2O3-seeding promoted the crystallization of the alumina gel to [Formula: see text]-Al2O3. A remarkable [Formula: see text]-Al2O3 crystallinity was achieved with an increase in [Formula: see text]-Al2O3 particle content by weight in the final seeded alumina gel. For an [Formula: see text]-Al2O3 particle content of 5%, the seeded alumina gel was partially crystallized to [Formula: see text]-Al2O3 by annealing at temperatures as low as 600[Formula: see text]C.