Iranian Journal of Materials Science and Engineering

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Abstract: Nano- size alumina particles have been synthesized by mechanical activation of a dry powder mixture of AlCl3 and CaO. Mechanical milling of the above raw materials with the conditions adopted in this study resulted in the formation of a mixture consisting of crystalline CaO and amorphous aluminum chlorides phases. There was no sign of chemical reaction occurring during milling stage as evidenced by x-ray diffraction studies. Subsequent heat treatment of the milled powder at 350ºC resulted in the occurrence of displacement reaction and the formation of Al2O3 particles within a water soluble CaCl2 matrix. The effect of higher temperature calcinations on the phase development in this powder mixture was followed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis and scanning electron microscope ( SEM). Differential thermal analysis (DTA) was used to compare the thermal behavior between the milled and unmilled powders. Perhaps the most important result in this study was the observation of á-Al2O3 phase at a very low temperature of 500ºC.

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Abstract: Composite specimens were prepared by dispersion of various amounts of nano-sized Al2O3 fillers in a monomer system containing 60% Bis-GMA and 40% TEGDMA. For comparative purposes, composite samples containing micrometer size Al2O3 fillers were also prepared following the same procedure. The mechanical properties of the light- cured samples were assessed by three-point flexural strength, diametral tensile strength, and microhardness tests. The results indicated a more than hundred percent increase in the flexural strength and nearly an eighty percent increase in the diametral tensile strength values in the samples containing nano-size Al2O3 filler particles. It is interesting to note that, this improvement was observed at a much lower nano-size filler content. Fracture surfaces analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, indicated a brittle type of fracture in both sets of specimens.