Effect of rotational speed of an electromagnetic stirrer on neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet nanoparticle size during co-precipitation

•Nd:YAG nano-powders prepared by co-precipitated method•Particle size of nano-powders is measured by SDL and SEM.•Effect of flow field within mixing solutions was discussed.•Particle size of Nd:YAG is affected by rotational speed of electromagnetics stirrer.

The rotational speeds of an electromagnetic stirrer was varied to control the growth of particle size of neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd:YAG) precursors into calcined powder. First, the Nd:YAG precursors were prepared using a chemical co-precipitation technique with different electromagnetic stirrer's rotational speeds, and then the precursors were calcined at different temperatures to obtain Nd:YAG nanoparticles. The precursors obtained from different co-precipitation conditions were heated from room temperature to 1000 °C, and then the phase evolution was analyzed through differential scanning calorimetry. The formation of YAG phase at different calcination temperatures was analyzed through X-ray diffraction. The size of Nd:YAG nanoparticles prepared at different electromagnetic stirrer's rotational speeds were analyzed using by particle size analyzer and scanning electron microscope. The experimental results indicated that the size of Nd:YAG nanoparticles could be controlled at approximately 300 nm when the Nd:YAG precursors were prepared from an electromagnetic stirrer rotational speed at 400 rpm and then calcined at 1300 °C. The obtained smaller particles size can be attributed to a homogeneous flow field within the mixing solution.

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