Ethanol-dependent solvothermal synthesis of monodispersed YAG powders with precursor obtained through bubbling ammonia

Abstract Yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) precursor precipitates, which were produced through bubbling ammonia gas approach, were solvothermally treated in alcoholic solution to synthesize monodispersed YAG powders in this paper. A variety of techniques, such as thermogravimetry/differential scanning calorimetry (TG/DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectra (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were employed to characterize the as-synthesized YAG precursor and powders. The results showed that the crystallization temperature of the YAG phase was largely dependent on the ethanol. Increasing the ethanol content in the solvent could decrease the YAG crystallization temperature. When the ratio of ethanol to water was 3:1, single-phase YAG was accurately available at a relatively lower temperature of 320 °C. Moreover, the obtained YAG powders were well-defined monodispersed spheres with mean particle size of about 274 nm, and showed excellent sinterability.