NANOCRYSTALLINE ALPHA ALUMINA (amp;-AI203) AND METHOD FOR MAKING THE SAME

摘要

A process for producing metastable nanocrystalline alpha-alumina (α-Al2O3) having particle sizes smaller than 12 nm. Starting crystallites of α-Al2O3 having a particle size larger than 12 nm, typically on the order of about 50 nm, are ball-milled at low temperatures to produce a nanocrystalline α-Al2O3 powder having a particle size of less than 12 nm, i.e., below the theoretical room temperature thermodynamic size limit at which α-Al2O3 changes phase to γ-Al2O3, wherein the powder remains in the α-Al2O3 phase at all times.