Study of the physical properties of amorphous Zr doped Al2O3 powders

Alumina (Al2O3) powders doped with different amounts of zirconium (Zr) ions were synthesized by the sol-gel process. The Zr concentration was changed from 0 to 3%. Here we attempted to fabricate Zr doped Al2O3 samples and characterized them for their optical and structural properties. Ultraviolet-Visible analysis (UV-Vis), infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) have been used to characterize the optical properties, phase evolution and crystallinity of the obtained samples. X-ray diffraction patterns revealed that all the Al2O3 powders obtained were completely amorphous. An optical study was employed to determine the band gap of the samples. The transmittance had decreased from 90 to 86% and the band gap of pure Al2O3 was found to be 4.116 eV, and it was shifted to 4.038 eV for 3% Zr doped Al2O3. The results obtained in this study are discussed comparatively with those cited in the literature.