zirconia

Done in a flash—advancements in the understanding of flash sintering mechanisms

By Jonathon Foreman / March 10, 2023

Understanding the underlying mechanisms of rapid and energy-efficient flash sintering is key to tailoring the materials and processes to meet a wide range of performance requirements. Four recent articles in ACerS journals characterize and quantify some of these atomic-level phenomena.

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Extensive modeling leads to new shape-memory zirconia with properties on par with shape-memory alloys

By Guest Contributor / December 20, 2022

Even when a shape-memory ceramic’s lattice compatibility is improved, it still often experiences cracking after just a few dozen transformation cycles. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology improved the cyclability of shape-memory zirconia ceramics with the help of a multimode modeling approach.

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Behind the label—study shows diamond rotary instruments marketed for removing zirconia restorations do not perform better than conventional ones

By Lisa McDonald / September 30, 2022

Removal of zirconia dental restorations is challenging and time consuming due to their high strength. Manufacturers offer diamond rotary instruments marketed specifically for removing zirconia restorations, but a new study reaffirmed that these instruments do not perform better or generate less heat than conventional ones.

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Focused ion beam milling may improve accuracy of zirconia fracture toughness measurements

By Lisa McDonald / September 8, 2020

Partially stabilized zirconia is commonly used in restorative dentistry because of its superior mechanical properties, but accurately measuring its fracture toughness can be challenging. Researchers now show focused ion beam milling may improve the accuracy of a particular measurement method.

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Transparent ceramics: Stronger than Gorilla Glass

By Lisa McDonald / December 21, 2018

Jülich scientists created yttria-coated transparent zirconia ceramics that demonstrated fracture toughness values far higher than tempered glass. Their method is suitable for industrial mass production.

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Ocean’s 8 makes the case for ceramic engineering education

By Eileen De Guire / June 22, 2018

Eileen loves caper movies and had high hopes for Ocean’s 8, the fourth episode in the heist genre that began with Ocean’s 11. She claims the movie’s takeaway message is that we need more ceramic engineers!

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One flash spark plasma sintering to rule them all: Technique can densify most materials in mere seconds

By April Gocha / December 8, 2017

Researchers at San Diego State University have developed a flash spark plasma sintering technique that can densify all kinds of materials, regardless of their electrical conductivity, in a matter of just seconds.

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Rapid sintering method takes step-wise approach to densify nanoceramics quicky and evenly

By April Gocha / September 12, 2017

Researchers at Jožef Stefan Institute (Ljubljana, Slovenia), the National Institute of Chemistry (Ljubljana, Slovenia), and Stockholm University (Stockholm, Sweden) have developed a new method to rapidly and evenly densify nanoceramics, offering incredible potential to save a lot of time and energy in sintering processes.

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Reducing grain boundary energy can help design ceramics with no grain growth

By April Gocha / September 8, 2017

A team led by researchers at the University of California, Davis has published new research showing that diffusion isn’t the only consideration when it comes to controlling grain growth.

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Printable ceramic nanoparticle ink creates luminescent holograms for enhanced security

By April Gocha / September 1, 2017

Scientists at ITMO University in Russia recently developed a scalable method of printing europium-doped zirconia nanoparticles into beautifully glowing security holograms that could secure the authenticity of printed documents and more.

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