Yttrium Aluminate (Y3Al5O12) Nanoparticles

Yttrium aluminate (Y₃Al₅O₁₂) nanoparticles have been found as interesting materials due to their noticeable mechanical and optical properties. They are widely used in high temperature structural, electronic devices and solid-state laser applications. Some rare earth elements namely erbium and neodymium can be doped into ytterbium aluminate to serve as laser ions. Other applications of ytterbium aluminate nanoparticles are in fabricating protective visors, night vision devices, thermographic lenses windowpane of armed vehicles, missiles and aircrafts. Yttrium aluminate nanoparticles are the intermediate phase of Y₂O₃-Al₂O₃ and adopt a garnet structure and their synthesis requires the composition of intermediate secondary phases and the careful control of the precursor performance. Several physical and chemical methods have been suggested for the preparation of ytterbium aluminate nanoparticles with fine crystalline structure, small particle size, and big luminescence quantum yield including sol-gel and coprecipitation. Another efficient method is sol-gel low temperature combustion method with resulting particle sizes ranging from a few to hundred nanometers.