Sintering behavior of ZnO:Al ceramics fabricated by sol-gel derived nanocrystalline powders

Abstract

ZnO:Al ceramics (Zn:Al, 0.95:0.05) were prepared by using sol-gel derived nanocrystalline powders. XRD patterns of the doped ceramics revealed the existence of both zincite (JCPDS 36-1451) and gahnite (JCPDS 5-0669) phases. Gahnite phase (ZnAl(2)O(4)) was segregated along the ZnO grain boundaries. At the sintering temperature of 1200 degrees C, relative density of the undoped and Al doped ceramics were measured as 0.695 and 0.628, respectively. Both grain size and relative density of the ceramics decreased with Al doping. (C) 2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim