Synthesis and characterization of aluminum Oxy nitride (AlON) from the nanosized gel precursor

The purpose of this research was the synthesis of aluminum Oxy-nitride (ALON) nanocrystals with through the alkoxide sol-gel processing method. For the synthesis of the nanosized precursor, sucrose (SU, as a source of reducing and gel agent), carbamide (CR, to adjust the pH and source of atomic nitrogen), aluminum buthylate (as the source of Al3+), and magnesium acetate (as the source of Mg2+ and the doping agent) were used. Various characterizations including X-ray diffractometry (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), diffusion reflectance spectroscopy (DRS spectrum), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) were used to characterize the as-synthesized samples. Our results indicated that the precursor solution containing SU:CR with the molar ratio of 1:3 M and 5% magnesium acetate led to AlON phase. This phase could be obtained after a special three-step calculation schedule of nanosized precursor consisting of 1 h at 1000 °C, 1 h at 1300 °C and 3 h at 1700 °C.