Estimation of yttrium oxide microstructural parameters using the Williamson–Hall analysis

Abstract

Yttrium oxide (Y2O3) particles were synthesised from a yttrium nitrate solution via ultrasonic spray pyrolysis (USP) method. The effects of temperature and precursor concentration on morphology and microstructural parameters were investigated. Y2O3 particles were characterised by scanning-electron-microscope energy-dispersive spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis. Based on X-ray peak broadening, the crystallite size was calculated using the modified Debye–Scherrer (MDS) method. Furthermore, the crystallite size, crystal strain and the energy density of the crystal were evaluated using the Williamson–Hall (W–H) analysis integrated with the uniform deformation model, the uniform stress deformation model and the uniform deformation energy density model. A comparative evaluation of Y2O3 crystallite size using the MDS and W–H methods was carried out. This is part of a thematic issue on Nanoscale Materials Characterisation and Modeling by Advances Microscopy Methods - EUROMAT.