MgAl<sub>2</sub>O<sub>4</sub> Transparent Nano-Ceramics Prepared by Sintering under Ultrahigh Pressure

Abstract

The first experimental work to produce transparent MgAl2O4 nano-ceramics was reported in this paper. The sintering characteristics of transparent nano-ceramics were investigated at relatively low temperature (800 ~ 1100°C) under ultrahigh pressure (2 ~ 5 GPa) using hydrostatic equipment. The morphologies and phases of ceramics were observed by means of SEM and XRD, respectively. The grain sizes of the ceramics are shown to be less than one hundred nanometers, far smaller than the sizes of common transparent ceramics. Furthermore, the higher the sintering temperature and pressure are, the greater the extent of densification is. At the same temperature, the higher the pressure is, the smaller the average grain size is. Under the same pressure, the higher the temperature is, the larger the average grain size is. The optimal sintering condition for preparing transparent nano-ceramics was also determined.