A straightforward approach for the synthesis of nanostructured Y2O3 particles: synthesis, morphology, microstructure and crystal imperfection

Abstract

A facile and straightforward approach has been implemented for the synthesis of nanostructured Y2O3 particles via sol-gel method from yttrium nitrate solution. The individual effects of calcination temperature, precipitation-chelating agent and precursor concentration on microstructural parameters, crystal defects and morphology of Y2O3 were investigated in detail. The morphology of synthesized nanostructured Y2O3 particles was revealed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Williamson Hall analysis were used to find out how Y2O3 crystallite size, lattice strain-stress, dislocation density and morphology affect the sol-gel process parameters. Comparative studies for determining crystallite size of particles were carried out by Modified Debye-Scherer and Williamson Hall analysis. A more detailed microstructural analysis and investigation of crystallographic imperfections were conducted by Williamson- Hall (W-H) method. W-H analysis was carried out on Y2O3 particles with spherical shape and sponge morphology for the first time. Results reveal that as calcination temperature is increased from 700 degrees C to 900 degrees C, the crystallite size increases from 37.15 nm to 49.49 nm while lattice strain increases from 8.154 x 10(-4) to 8.696 x 10(-4). It is also found that, an increment in solution concentration from 0.1 mol/L to 0.2 mol/L results in crystallite size decrement from 47.27 nm to 44.37 nm. A further increment from 0.2 mol to 0.4 mol/L leads to crystallize size increase from 44.37 nm to 49.67 nm.