The impact of nanocrystallite size and shape on phase transformation: Application to the boehmite/alumina transformation
Résumé
The thermal activation of oxyhydroxides is a key industrial process in preparing oxide materials. When
dealing with nanoparticles, the phase transition properties are drastically modified. By preparing sizeand
shape-controlled boehmite nanoparticles, we demonstrate that the transformation temperature into
c-alumina is significantly altered. Rhombus crystallites were obtained from boehmite precipitated at
basic pH, whereas crystallites precipitated at pH 4.5 were hexagonal. For the same crystallite size (ca.
4.5 nm), the transition temperature of the hexagonal crystallites was 315 C whereas that of the rhombus
ones was only 270 C. A thermodynamic model was developed to rationalize these observations: the
transition temperature results from a compromise between the crystallite size and the ratio of the lateral
and basal surfaces. Consequently, the as-determined kinetic data could be a powerful tool for developing
new efficient calcination processes and optimizing alumina properties.