Combustion synthesis of Ca1−xCuxAl2O4 (x=0.0, 0.4 and 0.8) copper doped calcium aluminate

The effects of Cu2+ ion doping, with different molar concentrations of 0.,0.4 and 0.8 M, on the properties of CaAl2O4 prepared by a simple combustion method are reported. The materials were characterised by XRD, FT-IR and SEM. DC electrical conductivity was also measured to study the electrical behaviour of the materials. The XRD patterns confirmed the formation of single-phase CaAl2O4 along with some impurity phases like CaAl4O7, CaAl12O19 and Ca12Al14O33. The FT-IR spectra showed the stretching and bending vibrations of the synthesised compounds. DC electrical conductivity of the Ca1-xCuxAl2O4 varied from 26.46 x 10 exp(-4) to 515.68 x 10 exp(-4) S/cm for x = 0.0 to x = 0.8 at the measuring temperature of 1000 C. SEM images showed the morphological features of the compounds.