Chemical preparation of aluminum borate whiskers

Aluminum borate (9Al2O3. 2B2O3) whiskers were chemically synthesized in potassium sulphate flux by using the starting chemicals of aluminum sulphate and boric acid. The synthesis temperature of 1075 °C was found to be the optimum with respect to whisker morphology. A tentative X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern was suggested for the whiskers produced after heating at 1150°C. The product purity, phase composition, and whisker morphology were investigated by XRD, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy, respectively.