Synthesis and characterization of calcium aluminate compounds from gehlenite by high-temperature solid-state reaction

The mineral transition mechanism and self-pulverization property of the sintered products in the Ca₂Al₂SiO₇-CaO system were systematically studied using pre-synthesized gehlenite determined by XRD, SEM, FTIR and particle size analyses. The minerals of Ca₁₂Al₁₄O₃₃, CaAl₂O₄, Ca₃SiO₅ and Ca₂SiO₄ are formed by the direct reactions of Ca₂Al₂SiO₇ with CaO. CaAl₂O₄ reacts with CaO to form Ca₁₂Al₁₄O₃₃ or Ca₃Al₂O₆, while Ca₃SiO₅ reacts with Ca₂Al₂SiO₇ to form Ca₂SiO₄ and calcium aluminate compounds. The sintered products mainly contain CaAl₂O₄, Ca₁₂Al₁₄O₃₃ and Ca₂SiO₄ at 1350?°C or above 1500?°C when the molar ratio of CaO to Al₂O₃ is 1.0. Increasing the sintering duration or the CaO consumption promotes the transition of Ca₂Al₂SiO₇ to Ca₂SiO₄ and calcium aluminate compounds when sintered at 1350?°C, which accordingly improves the self-pulverization property of the sintered products. The formed minerals of Ca₁₂Al₁₄O₃₃, CaAl₂O₄ and Ca₂SiO₄ transform into Ca₂Al₂SiO₇ again when the sintering temperature is between 1400?°C and 1450?°C, and the corresponding self-pulverization property of the sintered products deteriorates sharply.     

Densification mechanism during reactive hot pressing of B4C-ZrO2 mixtures

The densification behaviors of pure B₄C and B₄C-ZrO₂ mixtures were compared during hot pressing. The results showed that in-situ formed ZrB₂ effectively enhanced the densification process of B₄C-ZrO₂ mixtures, more significantly during the intermediate stage. Within the relative density ranging from 0.75 to 0.90, the B₄C-15?wt%ZrO₂ mixture (B15Z) achieved the maximum densification rate as twice much as that of pure B₄C. The stress exponent n>3 indicated plastic deformation was the dominant densification mechanism of B15Z. The viscosities of plastic flow were evaluated using Murray-Rodger-William equation and the viscosity of B15Z was only a quarter of that in pure B₄C. The sintering activation energy was calculated to be 305.9?kJ/mol for pure B₄C and 197?kJ/mol for B15Z, respectively. It was proposed that the lower viscosity of plastic flow and activation energy accelerated the sliding and propagating motions of plastic flow, by which underlain the enhanced densification behaviors of B₄C-ZrO₂ mixtures.     

Effects of spark plasma sintering on ferroelectricity of 0.8Bi3.15Nd0.85Ti3O12-0.2CoFe2O4 composite ceramic

The 0.8Bi_3.15Nd_0.85Ti₃O₁₂ (BNdT)-0.2CoFe₂O₄ (CFO) composite multiferroic ceramics have been fabricated by spark plasma sintering (SPS) at 850?°C. The relative density of as-sintered SPS ceramic reaches 97.4 (±0.3)%. The composites are composed of pure BNdT and CFO phases without any preferred c-orientation. The a-orientation preference is more obvious perpendicular to the pressure direction. The average grain-sizes of BNdT and CFO are 163 and 146?nm, respectively. The BNdT phase has more grains below 100?nm (～20%). The super energy-dispersive X-ray analyses suggest no serious reaction between BNdT and CFO. The Raman spectrum verifies the nano-structure of the SPS ceramic via the broadening bands and peak shifts. The Curie temperature of the SPS ceramic declines to 560?°C with stabilized dielectric loss. The grain boundary resistance plays a dominant role on impedance above 700?°C. The remanent polarization approaches to 15.2?μC/cm² (300?kV/cm) with lower coercive fields (?89/+95?kV/cm).     

Effect of sintering aids on the densification and electrical properties of SiO2 –containing Ce0.8Sm0.2O1.9 ceramic

In this work, five different metal-oxide additives (metal?=?Ba, Co, Fe, Li, and Mn) were examined as sintering aids and SiO₂ impurity scavengers for Ce_0.8Sm_0.2O_1.9 (SDC). 2?mol% additives were loaded into the SDC with ～150?ppm (moderately impure) and ～2000?ppm (highly impure) SiO₂. Ba-, Co-, Fe- and Mn-oxides showed comparative sintering-aid effect on both moderately- and highly-impure SDC specimens, but the sintering-assisting effect of Li-oxide was completely neutralized in highly impure SDC. Regarding electrical property, the deleterious effect of 2000?ppm SiO₂ impurity on the grain-boundary conduction of SDC can be effectively alleviated by adding Ba-, Co-, Fe-, or Mn-oxides. Microstructure analysis revealed that Ba-oxide reacted directly with SiO₂ and consequently enhanced grain-boundary conduction. By contrast, with the addition of Co-, Fe-, and Mn-oxides, the improved grain-boundary conductions of impure SDC were related to the scavenging reactions between Si, Ca (another original impurity) and Sm components.     

Effect of sintering temperature on electrical properties of SiC/ZrB2 ceramics

SiC/20?wt% ZrB₂ composite ceramics were fabricated via pressureless solid phase sintering in argon atmosphere at different temperature. The effect of sintering temperature on microstructure, electrical properties and mechanical properties of SiC/ZrB₂ ceramics was investigated. Electrical resistivity exhibits twice significant decreases with increasing sintering temperature. The first decrease from 1900?°C to 2000?°C is attributed to the obvious decrease of continuous pore channels in as-sintered materials. The second decrease from 2100?°C to 2200?°C results from the improvement of carbon crystallization and the disappearance of amorphous layers enveloping ZrB₂ grains. Additionally, the increase of sintered density with increasing temperature caused greatly advance of flexural strength, elastic modulus and Vickers hardness. But excessive temperature is detrimental to flexural strength because of SiC grain growth.     

Thermo-physical properties of as deposited and aged thermal barrier coatings (TBC) for gas turbines: State-of-the art and advanced TBCs

In the perspective of fuelling the future generations of gas turbines by hydrogen rich syngas, the evaluation of the effect of a higher water vapour content into the flue gases on the TBC used, or potentially usable, is a need. For this purpose YPSZ APS TBC with two different microstructures have been exposed for 500?h at different temperatures in the range 1000?°C–1250?°C either in air and air +20% vol. H₂O. The comparison between the different testing conditions has been performed in terms of sintering kinetics and phase stability, as evaluated by thermal diffusivity measurements and Synchrotron X-Rays diffraction, respectively. Furthermore the characterisation of thermal properties of two innovative TBCs (GZO-YPSZ and YAG) potentially able to withstand the CMAS attack and erosive environments, respectively, has been carried out.No clear evidence of a different behaviour of TBC has been observed, at least in the considered aging time and temperature range.     

Sintering behaviour and microwave dielectric properties of BaAl2−2x(ZnSi)xSi2O8 ceramics

BaAl_2?2x(ZnSi)_xSi₂O₈ (x = 0.2–1.0) ceramics were prepared using the conventional solid-state reaction method. The sintering behaviour, phase composition and microwave dielectric properties of the prepared compositions were then investigated. All compositions showed a single phase except for x = 0.8. By substituting (Zn_0.5Si_0.5)³⁺ for Al³⁺ ions, the optimal sintering temperatures of the compositions decreased from 1475 °C (x = 0) to 1000 °C (x = 0.8), which then slightly increased to 1100 °C (x = 1.0). Moreover, the phase stability of BaAl₂Si₂O₈ was improved. A novel BaZnSi₃O₈ microwave dielectric ceramic was obtained at the sintering temperature of 1100 °C. This ceramic possesses good microwave dielectric properties with ε_r = 6.60, Q × f = 52401 GHz (at 15.4 GHz) and τ_f = ?24.5 ppm/°C.     

Influence of whisker-aspect-ratio on densification,microstructure and mechanical properties of Al2O3 whiskers-reinforced CeO2-stabilized ZrO2 composites

A novel composite of 12 mol% CeO₂-stablized tetragonal ZrO₂ reinforced with Al₂O₃ whiskers (designated as Ce-TZP/A_w) has been prepared and studied in this work. The objective of this investigation was to systematically study the influence of whisker-aspect-ratio on the densification behaviors, microstructure evolution, and mechanical properties of Ce-TZP/A_w composite. Results showed that the sintered density of composite increased and the grain growth tended to diminish with the decrease in whisker aspect radio. Both the fracture toughness and flexural strength reached maximum values of 475 ± 12 MPa and 11.4 ± 0.2 MPa m^1/2, respectively at a whisker aspect ratio of about 12. It was also observed that the fracture toughness, flexural strength and tetragonal to monoclinic ZrO₂ transformation of the dual-phase composite exhibited similar variation trend as a function of the whisker-aspect-ratio, which suggested that the stress-induced phase transformation should be the main toughening and strengthening mechanism in the Ce-TZP/A_w composite.     

Effect of sintering aids on sintering kinetic behavior of praseodymium doped ceria based electrolyte material for solid oxide cells

The present study investigates the effect of sintering additives (Li, Co, Fe, and Mg) on the sintering kinetic behavior of the praseodymium-doped-ceria (PDC) electrolyte of solid oxide electrolyzer cell. 3Li-PDC, 3Co-PDC, 3Fe-PDC, and 3 Mg-PDC pellets were obtained from the synthesis of PDC nano-powder by microwave-assisted co-precipitation method using isopropyl alcohol as a solvent and followed by sintering additive wetness impregnation method. Linear shrinkage and shrinkage rate data suggest a positive sintering effect for 3Li-PDC and 3Co-PDC pellets and a negative sintering effect for 3 Mg-PDC and 3Fe-PDC pellets than compared to PDC pellets alone. The addition of lithium as a sintering additive (3Li-PDC) had reduced the sintering temperature of PDC from 1100 °C to 850 °C. For PDC, 3Li-PDC, 3Co-PDC, 3Fe-PDC and 3 Mg-PDC pellets sintered at 1100 °C, 850 °C, 1000 °C, 1200 °C, 1100 °C for 2 h resulted in a relative density of 93.6 ± 0.25, 95.8 ± 0.45, 95.0 ± 0.20, 92.7 ± 0.10, and 94.5 ± 0.10%, respectively. The XRD patterns of the sintered PDC pellets suggested a secondary phase formation (PrO₂) in 3Co-PDC, 3Fe-PDC, and 3 Mg-PDC pellets indicating that the addition of these sintering aids results in poor solubility limit of Pr in CeO₂. On the other hand, XRD patterns of PDC and Li-PDC sintered pellets displayed no secondary peak indicating good solid-solution formation. The activation energy of the 3Li-PDC pellet is obtained from CHR and Dorn methods and was found to be 182 kJ/mol and 196 kJ/mol. From the CHR method, for the 3Li-PDC pellet, the initial sintering behavior is by the grain boundary diffusion mechanism (m = ~2).     

SPS反应烧结HfB2复合材料的制备和性能

针对HfB2陶瓷材料难烧结和韧性差等问题,选择ZrC粉、Si粉和C粉为烧结助剂,借助ZrC-Si-C间的原位反应生成ZrSi2和SiC,促进HfB2陶瓷的烧结,并提高HfB2陶瓷的综合力学性能。结果表明,HfB2与烧结助剂的混合粉体经放电等离子烧结(SPS)在1600℃保温10 min和40 MPa的压力条件下制备出相对密度为96.6 1%的HfB2-ZrSi2-SiC复合材料,所制样品的硬度、抗弯强度和断裂韧性均随着烧结助剂ZrC-Si-C含量的增加呈现先上升后降低的趋势。当ZrC-Si-C添加量为10%时所制备样品的综合力学性能最好,其硬度值为26.80±1.2 GPa、抗弯强度为504±40 MPa、断裂韧性值为4.66±0.21 MPa·m1/2。