Phase Evolution and Stability of Aluminium Titanate Prepared by Solid-State Route: Effect of Two Different Particle Size of Al2O3

Abstract

ABSTRACTAl2TiO5 (AT) powder was prepared by solid-state method using Al2O3 and TiO2 precursor powders. Effect of two different types of Al2O3 precursor powder (namely, Al2O3-M and Al2O3-N with average particle size of 4.2 µm and 75 nm, respectively) on phase evolution and stability was studied. In the case of large particle Al2O3 precursor powder, AT phase was formed at 1500°C with a yield of 97%. Whereas, using nano-Al2O3 precursor powder, AT phase was formed at 1350°C with a yield of 91% and almost phase pure powder can be prepared at 1500°C. The stability of the AT pellet (sintered at 1500°C) was investigated by keeping the powder at 1150°C/6 h. It was observed from the XRD analysis that only 40% AT phase was retained in samples prepared with micron-size Al2O3. But in the case of the sample prepared using nano-size Al2O3, 93% AT phase was retained.