in one aspect the disclosure is directed to a method for inexpensively producing a y 2 o 3 nano - powder material , thereby facilitating the increased utilization of the material in different commercial application . in another aspect the disclosure is directed to y 2 o 3 nano - powder composite materials consisting of y 2 o 3 and at least one oxide selected from the group consisting of mgo , cao , beo 2 , al 2 o3 , tio 2 , zro 2 , sio 2 , hfo 2 , ybo 2 , gdo 2 , lu 2 o 3 and additional rare earth oxides .