ORIENTATION MECHANISM OF BETA-AGI GRAINS PRECIPITATED WITHIN MICROPORES OF POROUS ALUMINA

AgI-Al2O3 composites were fabricated by means of electrochemical deposition of AgI within micropores of porous alumina. The precipitated beta-AgI grains with the wurtzite structure showed significant preferred orientation with the c-axis parallel to the growing direction. The ratio of the crystallite size calculated from the X-ray diffraction peak width of (002) to that of (110) as well as the degree of orientation increased with an increase in distance from an initially formed position. The preferred orientation of the grains in the precipitate was probably caused by anisotropic growth behavior of the beta-AgI grains.