Synthesis of yttria nanopowder with poly acrylic acid as dispersant for highly transparent yttria ceramics

• Main Authors: Ni, Meng, Wang, Jun, Ma, Jie, Yao, Bingqing, Ong, Boon Chong, Dong, Zhili, Tang, Dingyuan
• Other Authors: School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2021
• Subjects: Engineering::Electrical and electronic engineering; Coprecipitation; Transparent Ceramics
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/154368
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Highly pure and well-dispersed yttria nanocrystalline powders were synthesized with a modified coprecipitation method that uses mixed ammonium hydroxide-carbonate solution as the precipitant and poly acrylic acid (PAA) as the dispersant. Comparing with the yttria powders synthesized using the same route but without PAA dispersant, the PAA-assisted powders exhibit lower level of agglomeration and better sinterability. Sintering trajectories of the powders with and without PAA dispersant were investigated. Y2O3 ceramics sintered with the PAA-assisted powders exhibited smaller grain size, homogeneous microstructure, and higher in-line optical transmittance. The result suggests that the polymer-assisted coprecipitation could be used to synthesize yttria nanopowders for fabricating high optical quality transparent ceramics.