Experimental Chronology and Investigation of Yttrium Aluminum Garnet Nanoparticle Syntheses

Yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) has been a material of intense interest since its discovery in 1964. Recently, efforts have been made to find alternate ways of producing YAG and other analogous oxides as dense materials for applications in lasers, scintillators, and optics. Methods of densification necessitate the use of nanomaterials as the building blocks for their development.

The production of nano-oxides is a diverse field with numerous methods, each with its own benefits and drawbacks. Methods like ball milling and solution combustion were chosen because of their projected simplicity, meanwhile flame spray pyrolysis and precipitation were chosen because of the control each offered in their syntheses. Hydrothermal synthesis was attempted as a supplementary technique to precipitation.

To find the ideal method to produce these materials, each approach was explored in detail and evaluated according to ideal criteria. The aim of this work was to provide a solid foundational exploration of different synthetic techniques, choose one and explore it further. During the investigation, the method selected had room for improvement regarding metal ion concentration which exceeded expectations for nanoparticle synthesis. Presented herein is the novel technique of frit assisted precipitation and a foundational study of its ability to produce nanoparticles.