Vibrational spectroscopic studies on crystallisation of sol-gel derived thin films of calcia-alumina binary compound

Abstract

An optimized sol-gel process has been developed to produce homogeneous thin films of calcium aluminate binary (12CaO·7Al2O3) compound, on magnesium oxide substrates via spin coating. Fourier transform infrared and Raman spectroscopies have been employed to investigate the effect of annealing temperature and duration on the phase transformations in the films. Heat treatment at 1,300 °C under air atmosphere for 2 h produced single-phase 12CaO·7Al2O3 films. However, annealing at a lower temperature of 1,100 °C in air for a period of 4 h in total resulted in the crystallization of 5CaO·3Al2O3 rather than 12CaO·7Al2O3. The X-ray photoelectron spectrum of the thin film annealed at 1,300 °C corresponds to the binding energies of C12A7 compound. The annealing temperature of 1,300 °C for 2 h is found to be sufficient for formulating single phase calcia-alumina binary films in correct stoichiometric ratio of 12:7. © 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York.