Processing

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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Strategies for managing hot spot development during microwave and flash sintering

By Lisa McDonald / March 7, 2023

Chances 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.

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Ceramics processing—are we using the correct sintering and creep models?

By Lisa McDonald / February 28, 2023

Processing 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.

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Utilizing stored emissions: A review of molten salt electrochemical conversion to recycle carbon dioxide

By Lisa McDonald / February 3, 2023

Molten 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.

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Crystallization of hybridized glasses provides a general and easy strategy for fabricating transparent ceramics

By Lisa McDonald / January 17, 2023

Current 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.

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Toward lead-free piezoelectrics: KNN-based ceramic demonstrates enhanced electrical properties thanks to two-step sintering process

By Lisa McDonald / January 6, 2023

Awareness 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.

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A ‘fin’tastic development: One-step process turns fish waste into functionalized carbon nano-onions

By Guest Contributor / November 29, 2022

Carbon 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.

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Rods and wires and tubes, oh my! High-temperature laser-assisted synthesis of boron nanomaterials

By Lisa McDonald / October 21, 2022

In 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.

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Searching for strength: Researchers investigate whether uniform grain size improves properties of 3D-printed cemented carbides

By Lisa McDonald / October 18, 2022

Additive 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.

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Ultrafast high-temperature sintering offers rapid, pressureless production of high-quality glasses

By Lisa McDonald / September 16, 2022

In 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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