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Synthesis of aluminum nitride nanopowder; compare methods for determination of the grain size in nanopowders 

Dariusz Smoleń 1Pawel Dominik 1Witold Adamkiewicz 1Andrzej Ostrowski 1Sławomir Podsiadło 1Cezariusz Jastrzebski 2Wojtek Gebicki Janusz Lewiński 1Daniel Prochowicz 1

1. Warsaw University of Technology, Faculty of Chemistry, Noakowskiego 3, Warszawa 00-664, Poland
2. Warsaw University of Technology, Faculty of Physics, Koszykowa 75, Warszawa 00-662, Poland

Abstract

Ultrafine grain and nanocrystalline materials show attractive properties. Aluminum nitride, well known semiconductor, as a nanopowder has got unique physical and chemical properities. It is attractive not only for applications in laser diodes, solar blind Photodiodes (PD), UV Light Emitting Diodes (LED) and high- temperature electronic devices but also for future light emitting systems based on aluminum nitride nanopowder and polymers. 

            The main goal of our research was to develop a method to synthesize nanopowder of aluminum nitride, which will be free from carbon. The reaction was carried out in horizontal tube furnace.  As a starting material we used a mixture of nanopowder α-Al2O3 (produced by Alfa-Aesar, particle size less than 60nm) and aluminum powder (3-5% by weight). As a source of nitrogen gaseous ammonia was used. The reaction can be expressed as follows:

Al2O3 + 2NH3 → 2AlN + 3H2O

The process was carried out in the temperature range 1050 -1350oC for time 1- 5h. During our experiment we validated influence of parameters like: temperature, ammonia rate, duration of reaction, the regime of heating and cooling. The samples were investigated by:  powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), Brunner-Emmett-Teller method (BET), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and ramman studies. 

 

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Related papers

Presentation: Poster at E-MRS Fall Meeting 2009, Symposium C, by Dariusz Smoleń
See On-line Journal of E-MRS Fall Meeting 2009

Submitted: 2009-05-08 13:57
Revised:   2009-06-07 00:48