s: Ultrafine A2La2Ti3O10 (A=K, Na) powders with laminar structure were successfully synthesized by citric acid sol-gel method using ANO3(A=K, Na)?La(NO3)3?Ti(OBu)4 and citric acid as starting precursors. The crystalline phase of A2La2Ti3O10 can be obtained by thermal decomposition of citrate complex precursors at a relatively low temperature of 800 ℃ (600 ℃ for A=Na), about 300 ℃(500 ℃ for A=Na) lower than that of conventional solid state reaction process. The properties of the citrate precursors and the calcined powders were characterized by Infrared spectroscopy (IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), thermal-gravimetric-differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA), inductively coupled plasma (ICP) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) techniques. Results show that the average size of A2La2Ti3O10 powders obtained by citric acid sol-gel route was reduced to 200 nm×250 nm and the specific surface area was up to 19 m2·g-1. At the same time, the product was with more regular morphological characteristics. The synthesis process and the formation of A2La2Ti3O10 were also discussed. The obtained A2La2Ti3O10 was found to be transformed from A2La2Ti3O9.5 during the formation process.
