LOW TEMPERATURE SYNTHESIS OF NANOCRYSTALLINE MgAl۲O۴ SPINEL VIA SUCROSE PROCESS

Abstract: Nanocrystalline MgAl۲O۴ spinel powder was synthesized using metal nitrates and a polymer matrix-based composed of sucrose and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). The precursor and the calcined powders were characterized by simultaneous thermal analysis (STA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). According to XRD results, the inceptive formation temperature of spinel via this technique was between ۶۰۰°C and ۷۰۰°C. The average crystallite size of calcined powder at ۸۰۰°C for ۲h was in the range of ۸-۱۲nm. In addition, SEM micrograph showed that the synthesized powder had a spherical morphology.