Thermogravimetric study of yttrium isopropoxide and dispersant burnout in aluminum nitride ceramic processing

Yttrium isopropoxide, an yttrium oxide precursor, is sometimes used as a sintering aid for producing aluminum nitride ceramics. In the present work, this sintering aid was used with isopropanol as the solvent and polyethyleneimine as the dispersing agent. After initial ball milling and drying steps, the burnout behaviour of samples taken from isostatically pressed pellets was studied by thermal analysis in nitrogen and air. In addition to the milled and pressed pellets, each component was also analyzed separately. Complete conversion to yttrium oxide, with no residual carbon, would be a desirable property of this system. However, during the preparation of the aluminum nitride pellet, there was only partial yttrium isopropoxide decomposition. The nitrogen burnout residue contained carbon formed from the yttrium isopropoxide and dispersant overlapping thermal decomposition, mostly from an intermediary decomposition stage of the former that occurs between 300 and 550°C. The residual carbon content and the previous yttrium isopropoxide decomposition were estimated by thermogravimetry.