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A Sucrose‐Mediated Sol–Gel Technique for the Synthesis of MgO – Y 2 O 3 Nanocomposites
Author(s) -
Iyer Aparna,
Garofano Jacquelynn K.M.,
Reutenaur Justin,
Suib Steven L.,
Aindow Mark,
Gell Maurice,
Jordan Eric H.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of the american ceramic society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.9
H-Index - 196
eISSN - 1551-2916
pISSN - 0002-7820
DOI - 10.1111/jace.12123
Subject(s) - calcination , nanocomposite , microstructure , aqueous solution , chemical engineering , nanocrystal , mesoporous material , materials science , sol gel , grain size , ceramic , nanoscopic scale , mineralogy , chemistry , nanotechnology , composite material , organic chemistry , catalysis , engineering
A sucrose‐mediated aqueous sol–gel procedure was developed to synthesize MgO – Y 2 O 3 nanocomposite ceramics for potential optical applications. The synthesis involves the generation of a precursor foam containing Mg 2+ and Y 3+ cations via the chemical and thermal degradation of sucrose molecules in aqueous solution. Subsequent calcination and crushing of the foam gave MgO – Y 2 O 3 nanocomposites in the form of thin mesoporous flake‐like powder particles with uniform composition and surface areas of 27–85 m 2 g − 1 , depending on calcination conditions. The flakes exhibited a homogeneous microstructure comprising intimately mixed nanoscale grains of the cubic MgO and Y 2 O 3 phases. This microstructure was resistant to grain coarsening with average grain sizes of less than 100 nm for calcination temperatures of up to 1200°C. The results indicate that the sucrose‐mediated sol–gel process is a simple effective method for making nanoscale mixed oxides.