Nano-sized Y 2 O 3 powders were prepared via a sol-gel method starting with Y(NO 3 ) 3 ·6H 2 O (Yttrium(III) nitrate hexahydrate) and water with ethanol as a cosolvent. Y 2 O 3 is an important rare earth oxide and has been considered for use in nuclear applications, such as ceramic materials, due to its excellent optical and refractory characteristics. It has been used as a chemically stable substrate, a crucible material for melting reactive metals, and a nozzle material for jet casting molten

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... rare earth-iron magnetic alloys. Oxalic acid (C 2 H 2 O 4 ) has been adopted as a chelating agent in order to control the rate of hydrolysis and polycondensation, and ammonia was added in order to adjust the base condition. The synthesized Y 2 O 3 powder was characterized using TG/DTA, XRD, FE-SEM, BET and Impedance Analyzer analyses. The powder changed its properties in accordance with the pH conditions of the catalyst. As the pH increases according to the FE-SEM, the grain grew and it showed that the pore size decreased while confirming the effect of the grain size. The nano-material Y 2 O 3 powders demonstrated that the surface area was improved with the addition of oxalic acid with ammonium hydroxide.