Size dependent phase and morphological transformation of alumina nanoparticles

The size effect of the alumina nanoparticles on the phase and morphological transition by thermal treatment at various temperatures is investigated by choosing two different sizes alumina nanoparticles. Our experimental results revealed that phase and morphological transformation behavior is significantly different for smaller size alumina nanoparticles than that of larger size. The more stable alpha phase transformation occurs at a higher temperature for smaller size alumina nanoparticles in comparison to that of the larger size alumina nanoparticles. Moreover, the experimental facts also elucidated that the nucleation and growth process at the nanoscale for the phase transition is also size dependent. Our experimental result from the FESEM and TEM analysis also revealed that there is a direct correlation between phase and morphological transition of alumina nanoparticles size which is consistent with the XRD results. Therefore, we believe that our experimental findings can be extended to other complex nanomaterials for understanding the size-dependent phase and morphological transformation at the nanoscale.