Novel Preparation of Translucent Alumina Ceramics Induced by Doping Additives via Chemical Precipitation Method

In this article, we have reported a novel approach to fabricate translucent alumina ceramics induced by doping additives via chemical precipitation. For this approach, alumina powder was first mixed with metal nitrates and dispersed by PEG-2000 as dispersant, and then the pH value was tailored by introducing the NH(3)center dot H(2)O into the suspension to favor the precipitation of Mg(2+) and Y(3+) onto the Al(2)O(3) matrix. It is found that the dopants are smaller and more homogeneously dispersed via chemical precipitation in the translucent alumina sample as compared with conventional ball milling. Furthermore, it is believed that the approach of chemical precipitation followed by H(2) sintering at high temperature within short sintering time could make a good balance between the real in-line transmission and the cost.