Synthesis of MgAl2O4 spinel by thermal plasma and its synergetic structural study

Abstract

Bulk quantity of the MgAl2O4 spinels with specific composition has been synthesized by thermal plasma method. The process time and compositions of the feed are optimized for a desired stoichiometry. A structural co-relation has been derived from several set of experiments by major variation in the alpha-Al2O3 content in the feed material. Formation of desired phase with particular feed stoichiometry has been studied by X-ray diffraction pattern (XRD) analysis which is corroborated by Raman scattering analysis. A good structural co-relation between the XRD, Raman and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis was derived. Additionally, the electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) of the specific sample has been carried out to study the exact compositional distribution and the presence of additional impurity phases in the as-synthesized spinels. Finally, the micro mechanical behaviour of the as-synthesized spinels has been studied and well co-related with the structural data. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.