A time resolved 27Al NMR study of the cooling process of liquid alumina from 2450 degrees C to crystallisation.

Nuclear magnetic resonance is able to give insight into the structure and dynamics of liquids at very high temperature (T > 2000 degrees C). 27Al NMR spectra have been recorded every 25 ms during the cooling of an aerodynamically levitated liquid alumina droplet from 2450 degrees C to crystallisation in less than 3 s. The temperature is measured jointly by pyrometry and NMR, and this time resolved experiment provides a unique way of exploring the temperature dependence of both the structure (shift) and the dynamics (relaxation time of 27Al of the liquid and the supercooled liquid alumina until the crystallisation of alpha-Al2O3. The apparent Arrhenian activation energy of 130 kJ mol-1, derived from T1 measurement, is understood as the signature of the macroscopic viscosity in this high temperature liquid.