Morphology investigation of alumina nano-powders prepared by a sol-gel combustion method

Highly sinterable alumina nano-powders have been synthesized by a sol-gel combustion method with glycine asfuel. The preparation involved the thermal decomposition of a chelating agent (fuel)-nitrate gel and theformation of amorphous precursors. The nanopowders calcined at 1100°C were characterized by X-ray powderdiffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). It was found that the chelating agent and fuelused had a significant influence on the average grain size of a-A1203 nanopowder. The rate of combustionreaction between chelating agent (fuel) and nitrate was responsible for the growth of the grain.