Submicron γ-LiAlO ₂ powder synthesized from boehmite

The present study reports a simple, effective and energy-efficient method to prepare γ-LiAlO ₂ powder as a matrix in a molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC). In our experiments, aqueous solution based sol-gel technique was used to synthesize γ-LiAlO ₂. Highly dispersed AlOOH·nH ₂O and LiOH·H ₂O aqueous solutions were mixed to form a colloid mixture, which was calcined to synthesize γ-LiAlO ₂. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to study the composition and morphology of the intermediate and final products. The analysis results showed that an intermediate product Li ₂Al ₄CO ₃(OH) ₁₂ was produced after the colloid mixture was dried at 80 °C, and highly purified γ-LiAlO ₂ powder with fine particle size was resulted from the subsequent calcinations. A single MCFC was assembled with a matrix of the γ-LiAlO ₂ powder. The testing results showed that the matrix performed well in preventing gas leakage.