Preparation and properties of AlON powders

Aluminum oxynitride (AlON) powders were synthesized using the raw materials of γ-Al2O3 and carbon black through the carbothermal reduction and nitridation process. The carbon content in the γ-Al2O3/C mixture and heating temperature were investigated. The AlON powders were synthesized by calcination for 2 h at 1750 °C when the carbon content in the γ-Al2O3/C mixture was 5.8 wt%. The particle size of powder is important to the transparency of ceramics, but the size of the synthesized powder was large. Therefore, a few methods, such as freeze-drying, ultrasonic dispersion, and liquid nitrogen ball milling, were used to reduce the particle size of powders. Among the three methods, liquid nitrogen milling had the best results.