Facile synthesis of Y2O3:MgO nanoparticles via sol-gel method

Y 2 O 3 : MgO (YMO) composite materials exhibit outstanding optical and thermal stability, and are widely used in optics, catalysis, ceramics and other fields. Attaining high-performance YMO materials hinges upon the use of high purity finely ground raw materials, precise component ratios, and uniform distribution. In this study, YMO composite nanoparticles with a volume ratio of 50:50 were synthesized using oxidizer (magnesium nitrate hexahydrate and yttrium nitrate hexahydrate) and fuel (citric acid). Optimizing the particle size and specific surface area of the nanoparticle was achieved by adjusting the oxidizer to fuel ratio ( O/F ) in the precursor (the molar ratio ranges from 0.18 to 0.33), and the optimal O/F was obtained. When the molar ratio is at 0.28, nanoparticles with particle size of 14 nm and specific surface area of 44 m 2 /g are synthesized. Furthermore, this study revealed that nanoparticles synthesized at different molar ratios of O/F produce different agglomeration degree after calcination at 800 °C, with the agglomeration factor (AF) gradually decreasing as the molar ratio of citric acid to nitrate increases; the results show that AF is at least 2.0 when O/F  = 0.28.