Nanoreactor engineering and spark plasma sintering of Gd20Ce80O1.90 nanopowders

The concept of the in situ engineering of nanoreactors - morphologically homogeneous aggregates of synthesized complex intermediate metastable products has been realized. The nanoblast calcination technique was applied and the final composition was synthesized within the preliminary localized volumes of each single nanoreactor. Such technique provided the heredity of the final structure of nanosize product, and allowed the prevention of the uncontrolled agglomeration and production of Gd20Ce80O1.90 powder consisting of approximately 50 nm nano-aggregates of approximately 7 nm crystallites with a remarkably homogeneous composition and uniform morphology. Finally, the SPS consolidation of nanosized aggregates of Gd20Ce80O1.90 was analyzed. The CGO nanoceramics with average grain sizes of 32 nm and 16 nm were obtained by low-temperature SPS at 1050 degrees C and 970 degrees C, respectively under the pressures of 90-150 MPa.