9500812 Navrotsky Nanophase materials (particle sizes in the 1-100 nm range) are important as ceramic precursors, catalysts, and adsorbents, molecular sieves, coatings, etc. This work seeks to test the hypothesis that structures which are metastable in the bulk are actually energetically stabilized as nanoscale materials. Using gamma alumina as a technologically important example, in collaboration with Alcoa, Co-PI proposed to determine the enthalpy of the alphagamma transition as a function of particle size (surface area) by high temperature solution calorimetric techniques. %%% PI proposed to determine the enthalpy of the alpha-gamma transition in alumina as a function of particle size by high temperature solution calorimetric techniques. The results will be useful in understanding the stability of nanosize particles of metastable phases.
