Low temperature synthesis of nanocrystalline Y3Al5O12 (YAG) and Ce-doped Y3Al5O12via different sol–gel methods

Nanocrystalline yttrium aluminium garnet (YAG, Y3Al5O12) and Ce-doped YAG ceramics were synthesized by two ‘soft chemistry' sol–gel processes using (i) mixtures of inorganic salts or oxides and (ii) mixtures of alkoxides of the respective elements. In the first approach the metal ions, generated by dissolving metal oxides or nitrates in acetic acid and/or water, were complexed by ethylene glycol to obtain the precursors for pure and doped YAG samples. In the alkoxide route monolithic gels were obtained by hydrolysis and condensation of a compositional mixture of Al, Y and Ce alkoxides in a PriOH solution. The molecular level mixing and the tendency of partially hydrolysed alkoxide species to form extended networks of cross-linked metal centers facilitates the structure evolution thereby lowering the crystallization temperature, in the latter case. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns of the ceramic sintered at 700 °C were identical with the stoichiometric YAG composition which is the lowest temperature reported for the synthesis of crystalline and single phase Y3Al5O12 while well developed YAG phases in the non-alkoxide synthesis were obtained only at 1000 °C. Cerium doped YAG powders (CeO2 + Y3Al5O12) were synthesized using [NH4]2[Ce(NO3)6] (8 mol%) and [Ce3(OBut)9(ButOH)2] (5 mol%), as dopants. A homogeneous distribution of cerium in the YAG lattice was achieved in both cases. The thermal behaviour, phase transformations, composition and microstructural features in the gels and polycrystalline samples were studied by TG/DTA, XRD, FT-IR, solid-state 27Al MAS NMR spectroscopy, SEM, TEM, energy dispersive X-ray analysis and high resolution electron microscopy studies. The quality of the resulting products (homogeneity, crystallization temperature, grain size, grain size distribution, etc.) and economical aspects (synthetic skill, cost of precursors, etc.) of the two approaches are discussed.