Processing of alumina and zirconia nano-powders and compacts

Magnesia-doped alumina and yttria-doped zirconia nano-powders were synthesized using sucrose as a chelating agent and template material from the aqueous solutions of aluminium nitrate, magnesium nitrate, ytrrium nitrate and zirconyl nitrate, respectively. Synthesis parameters were optimized with varying sucrose to metal ion ratio, calcinations time, and temperature to produce these nano-powders. As-synthesized powders were characterized by room temperature X-ray diffraction, BET surface area analyzer and transmission electron microscopy. Y2O3-ZrO2 nano-powders had particle size in the range of 80-200nm with specific average surface area of 119m(2)/g and for MgO-Al2O3 powders, particle sizes were 30-200 nm with the specific average surface area of 250 m(2)/g. Our results indicate that this synthesis method is a versatile one and can be applied to a variety of oxide-based materials to form nano-powders. Nano-powders were compacted uniaxially and densified in a muffle furnace. Sintered discs were used for hardness testing and density measurements, as well as for microstructural characterization. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.