Nanosized pure and Cr doped Al2−xScx(WO4)3 solid solutions

Nanosized solid solutions of the formula Al2−x−yScxCry(WO4)3, where x varies from 0 to 2 and y from 0.02 to 0.1 are synthesized for the first time by the co-precipitation method. X-ray powder diffraction, DTA/TG and TEM analyses demonstrate that the powders are pure solid solution compounds with orthorhombic structure, space group Pnca. Particle sizes between 10 and 70 nm are obtained after thermal treatment of the precipitates at 550 °C for 1 h for all compositions except in the case of Sc1.9Cr0.1(WO4)3. For the last one mean particle size of 64 nm was obtained after thermal treatment at 500 °C. The influence of the concentrations of Sc and Cr as well as of the temperature and duration of the thermal treatment on the particle size and size distribution are established and discussed.