Of all ceramic materials, lithium aluminate has been widely studied and has become a good candidate to be used as both a fusion blanket and as a matrix in molten carbonate fuel cells. On behalf of these lithium aluminate applications, a variety of procedures has been proven to prepare adequate crystalline and pure material. In this study, lithium aluminate was synthesized by thermally decomposing a lithium dawsonite-type precursor using aluminum nitrate and chloride as a starting material. The lithium aluminate was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction. According to the results the crystalline form, in mixtures of several phases, of the lithium aluminate obtained depends strongly on the thermal treatment.

Keywords: lithium aluminate, dawsonite.