The investigation of YAlO3–NdAlO3 system, synthesis and characterization

The pseudo-binary phase diagram of the YAlO3 (YAP)–NdAlO3 (NAP) system was determined by differential thermal analysis (DTA) and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) measurements. High purity nanocrystalline powders and small single crystals of Y1−xNdxAlO3 (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) have been produced successfully by modified sol–gel (Pechini) and micro-pulling-down methods, respectively. Both end members show high mutual solubility >25% in the solid phase, with a miscibility gap for intermediate compositions. A solid solution with x ≈ 0.2 melts azeotropic ca. 20° below pure YAP. Such crystals can be grown from the melt without segregation. The narrow solid/liquid region near the azeotrope point could be measured with a “cycling” DTA measurement technique.

• The system YAlO3–NdAlO3 is pseudo-binary. • Both end members show high mutual solubility >25% in the solid phase. • A solid solution Y0.8Nd0.2 melts azeotropic ca. 20° below pure YAP. • All YAP-rich solid solutions have the 2-phase region between solidus and liquidus.