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Sol-gel synthesis of a nanoparticulate aluminosilicate precursor for homogeneous mullite ceramics

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Abstract

An amorphous nanoparticulate aluminosilicate 3/2-mullite precursor has been synthesized and carefully characterized. The sol contained 2-nm particles of Q3(3Al) silica species together with six-coordinated alumina, which suggested an allophane-like structure of the nanoparticles. The sol remained stable for years, and formed an easily redispersible physical gel upon solvent evaporation. The gel crystallized to mullite at temperatures below 1000 °C, without going through any intermediate spinel phase. Thus, the nanoparticulate precursor is regarded as a homogeneous high-purity mullite precursor with a high Si–O–Al bond density, which is useful in the preparation of various nanostructured Al-rich aluminosilicate materials. The sols and gels were characterized by small-angle x-ray scattering, dynamic light scattering, x-ray diffraction, 27Al and 29Si magic-angle spinning (MAS) nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and differential thermal analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Materials Science, Tampere University of Technology, 33101, Tampere, Finland

    Jarkko Leivo

  2. Department of Physical Chemistry, Åbo Akademi, 20500, Åbo, Finland

    Mika Lindén, Cilâine V. Teixeira, Janne Puputti & Jessica Rosenholm

  3. Institute of Materials Science, Tampere University of Technology, 33101, Tampere, Finland

    Erkki Levänen & Tapio A. Mäntylä

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  1. Jarkko Leivo
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  2. Mika Lindén
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Leivo, J., Lindén, M., Teixeira, C.V. et al. Sol-gel synthesis of a nanoparticulate aluminosilicate precursor for homogeneous mullite ceramics. Journal of Materials Research 21, 1279–1285 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2006.0152

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