Role of particle size of alumina on the formation of aluminium titanate as well as on sintering and microstructure development in sol–gel alumina–aluminium titanate composites

With a view to develop low temperature fine grained alumina–aluminium titanate composite, influence of alumina particle size on the temperature of formation of the aluminium titanate, sintering behaviour and microstructure development of alumina–aluminium titanate composite prepared through a sol–gel core shell approach is reported. The alumina matrix composite containing 20 wt% aluminium titanate has been prepared from alumina powders having different average particle size in the range 300–600 nm. The alumina particle size appears to have no significant influence on the formation temperature of in situ formed aluminium titanate. However, the microstructural analysis of the dense ceramic showed that the average grain size of the alumina–aluminium titanate composite increases with increase in the alumina particle size. XRD analysis indicated the absence of rutile titania in the sintered composite ensuring complete formation of aluminium titanate. Smaller starting alumina particle size led to finer grain size composites. The present study therefore shows that although the starting particle size of alumina has no significant role on the lowering of formation temperature of aluminium titanate, it does influence the microstructure of the composite.