Y2O3 – Al2O3 Binary Glass Microspheres: Synthesis and Characterisation

Abstract

The work reports on the preparation and properties of binary alumina-rare-earth oxide glass microspheres with high contents of aluminium oxide. Because Al2O3 is not a typical glass former, preparation of these glasses in bulk is difficult due to high melting temperatures and high tendency to crystallisation, which requires high cooling rates. One of the possibilities is preparation of glass microspheres by flame synthesis and rapid quenching of microspheres by spraying them with water. Microspheres with dimensions ~10 µm and with various compositions from the systems RE2O3-Al2O3 (RE = Y, Yb, La) have been prepared with the use of an in-house built equipment. The prepared microspheres have been characterised by SEM-EDX, IR, XRD and DTA.