Yttria Nanoparticles Prepared from Salicylic Acid-Y(III) Nanocomposite as a New Precursor

A novel method for the fabrication of high purity yttria, Y2O3, nano-particles is presented by thermal decomposition of salicylic acid-Y(III) nano composite as precursor. The nano composite was formed by a sonochemical method from the reaction between Y(III) nitrate hexahydrate, potassium tiocyanide, KSCN, and 2-hydroxyl benzoic acid, (salicylic acid = sal) in ethyleneglycol, eg, under ultrasonic irradiation with the rated output power of 600 W and frequency 20 KHz. Characterization of the mentioned compound was performed by FTIR spectroscopy, elemental analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and thermal analysis, TG/DTA. Yttria, nanoparticles were prepared by thermal decomposition of the nano composite at two different conditions in ambient atmosphere. The product was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) and fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The purity of Y2O3 nano-powder tested by ICP-AES analysis is 99.99%.