Effect of precursors on the preparation of lithium aluminate

Gamma lithium aluminate, which is a tritium breeding material proposed for use in fusion reactors, was prepared via a sol-gel method or a solid state reaction method and the effect of precursors on the crystallinity was studied. In the sol-gel method, the lithium butoxide-aluminum butoxide system gave pure gamma lithium aluminate. Lithium salt-aluminum butoxide systems result in high purity but a slightly higher temperature was needed. The gamma-phase was preceded by the alpha- or beta-phase in lithium salt-alumina precursor systems, whereas gamma-lithium aluminate was directly developed in lithium alkoxide-aluminum alkoxide precursor systems and lithium salt-aluminum butoxide precursor systems. Among the precursor systems tested in this study, lithium butoxide-aluminum butoxide system was most favorable in the formation of phase pure gamma-LiAlO2. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.