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.
Read MoreChances of local overheating are likely when densifying ceramics through microwave or flash sintering. In a recent paper, researchers in France discuss factors that drive hot spot development and describe possible ways to manage the phenomenon.
Read MoreProcessing ceramics requires accurate knowledge of their thermal, chemical, and mechanical behaviors. In today’s CTT, ACerS Fellow Shen Dillon shares recent work he and collaborators in China and the United States published on new models for understanding sintering and creep behaviors in ceramics.
Read MoreMolten salt electrochemical conversion may offer an economic and relatively clean way to extract pure carbon products from stored carbon dioxide emissions. In a recently published open-access paper, researchers from the University of Science and Technology Beijing summarize the successes and challenges of this process.
Read MoreCurrent sintering methods used to obtain transparent ceramics face several challenges, including strict processing conditions and limited shape and size control. Researchers led by South China University of Technology presented a new general strategy for constructing dual-phase transparent ceramics from hybridized glasses that offers shape and size control as well as the potential for functionalization.
Read MoreAwareness of lead’s toxicity drives research on alternative lead-free piezoelectric materials. But traditional high-temperature sintering processes can inadvertently deteriorate a lead-free ceramic’s piezoelectric response. A two-step sintering process can minimize this deterioration, and researchers in China identified the optimum temperature and dwell time for the first step.
Read MoreCarbon nano-onions are a newer carbon nanostructure with great potential in application, but synthesizing these materials conventionally requires high temperatures, expensive feedstock, or corrosive environments. Researchers at Nagoya Institute of Technology used a one-step microwave pyrolysis process to turn fish scales into carbon nano-onions with highly crystalline and functionalized structures.
Read MoreIn the past decade, computational research has dominated over experimental studies of boron nanomaterials. A recent open-access paper contributes a new addition to the experimental literature by demonstrating that double-pulse laser ablation can be used to synthesize boron nanorods, nanowires, and nanotubes.
Read MoreAdditive manufacturing offers a potentially easier way to fabricate cemented carbide parts. In a recent paper, researchers from Global Tungsten & Powders Corp. in Pennsylvania explored whether ensuring a uniform grain size in the 3D-printed part will improve its properties.
Read MoreIn 2020, researchers led by the University of Maryland developed an ultrafast high-temperature sintering method to achieve rapid, pressureless sintering of ceramics. Now, they and colleagues from Alfred University and the University of California, San Diego used this method to fabricate high-quality silica glass.
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