EFFECT OF SYNTHESIS TECHNIQUES ON CRYSTALLITE SIZE AND MORPHOLOGY OF LITHIUM ALUMINATE

gamma-LiAlO2 is considered as a candidate tritium breeder material for fusion reactors because of its thermophysical, chemical, and mechanic al stability at high temperatures and its favorable neutron irradiatio n behavior. Crystallite size and shape could, however, alter these fea tures. In this study the mean crystallite size, the crystallite size d istribution, and the morphology of gamma-LiAlO2 are correlated to the synthesis procedure. The characterization techniques were powder X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy.