Moderate temperature sintering of BaZr0.8Y0.2O3-δ protonic ceramics by A novel cold sintering pretreatment

The state-of-the-art protonic ceramic conductor BaZr_0.8Y_0.2O_3-δ (BZY20) requires an extremely high sintering temperature (≥1700 °C) to achieve the desired relative density and microstructure necessary to function as a proton conducting electrolyte. In this work, we developed a cold sintering pretreatment assisted moderate-temperature sintering method for the fabrication of high-quality pure BZY20 pellets. BZY20 pellets with high relative density of ~94% were fabricated with a final sintering temperature of 1500 °C (200 °C lower than the traditional sintering temperature). A comparison with BZY20 control samples indicated that the proper amount of BaCO₃ introduced on the BZY20 particle surface and the high green density achieved by cold sintering pretreatment were the main drivers for lowering the sintering temperature. The electrical conductivity measurement by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy showed that the as-prepared BZY20 pellets have a proton conductivity comparable to the state-of-the-art values. The cold sintering pretreatment outlined in this work has the potential to lower the sintering temperatures for similar types of protonic ceramic materials under consideration for a wide range of energy conversion and storage applications.     

Pressure-induced transparency of MgO,Al2O3, AlN,and cBN ceramics at room temperature

The in situ axial X-ray diffraction patterns of four ceramic powder samples (MgO, Al₂O₃, AlN, and cBN) that were compressed in a diamond anvil cell under uniaxial non-hydrostatic conditions were recorded. The microscopic deviatoric stress as a function of the pressure was determined from the X-ray diffraction peak broadening analysis: the curves increased approximately linearly with the pressure at the initial compression stage and then levelled off under further compression. Pressure-induced transparency was observed in all of the samples under compression, and the pressure at the turning point on the curves of the microscopic deviatoric stress versus pressure corresponded to the pressure at which the samples became transparent. Analysis of the microstructural features of the pressure-induced transparent samples indicated that the compression caused the grains to fracture, and the broken grains bonded with each other. We demonstrated that the ceramics’ pressure-induced transparency was a process during which the grains were squeezed and broken, the pores were close between the grains, and the broken grains were re-bonded under compression.     

Ultra-low energy joining: An invisible strong bond at room temperature

We developed Cold Isostatic Joining (CIJ) which is an environmental friendly room temperature joining method. This technique extends cold sintering process to joining of glasses. By optimizing the CIJ conditions a shear stress (18 MPa) comparable to bulk fused silica was achieved. The technique surpasses other joining methods (e.g. adhesive bonding and brazing), because it is insensitive to thermal degradation. Unlike pressure-less silicate bonding, pressure assisted CIJ resulted in a thin joining interlayer (≈27 nm) which maintained its integrity after being heated up to 1000 °C. The in-line transmittance (92%) was identical to un-joined material over the full spectrum making the joining nearly undetectable. The mechanism of CIJ formation and joining were clarified using X-ray diffraction (XRD and pole figure), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and in line transmittance measurements. The cold joining method could find applications in the field of optics and semiconductors for wafer and lens bonding.     

Cold crucible melting and characterization of titanate-zirconate pyrochlore as a potential rare earth/actinide waste form

La-Ce-Gd titanate-zirconate pyrochlore-based ceramics was synthesized at the lab-scale inductive melting unit with a 56?mm inner diameter cold crucible. Batch feeding rate and melting ratio were 3?kg/h and 3?kW?h/kg respectively. The ceramics is composed of 85–90?vol% zoned grains of the pyrochlore structure phase, the sample has excellent chemical durability in hot water and may be considered as a promising matrix for actinide – rare earth fraction of high level waste.     

Fabrication,microstructural characterization and gas permeability behavior of porous silicon nitride ceramics with controllable pore structures

Porous Si₃N₄ ceramics with monomodal and bimodal pore structure were prepared by cold isostatic pressing and freeze-casting, respectively. Both the pore structure and permeability behavior of the porous Si₃N₄ ceramics were tailored by altering the pressure of cold isostatic pressing and the composition and content of solvent during freeze-casting. The specimens obtained by cold isostatic pressing exhibited smaller Darcian and non-Darcian permeability than those of freeze-casted samples due to their lower open porosity, smaller pore size and higher tortuosity. On the other hand, compared with the ice-templated specimens having the same solvent volume in the ceramic slurries as them during freeze-casting, the emulsion-ice templated samples showed smaller open porosity, macropore size and Dacian permeability, but the similar non-Darcian permeability because of their larger micropores and better pore interconnectivity.     

The cold sintering process: A review on processing features,densification mechanisms and perspectives

Since its first introduction in 2016, cold sintering process (CSP) has gained worldwide interest from the scientific community as green and innovative fabrication route due to the dramatic reduction of processing time, energy, and costs. Cold sintering resembles the geological formation of rocks where a ceramic powder is densified with the aid of a liquid phase under an intense external pressure and limited heating conditions (below 350 °C). Up to date, tens of different materials, including composites, have been successfully processed through CSP and extraordinary results in terms of densification, microstructure and final properties have been achieved. In the present review, processing features and variables, possible densification mechanisms and issues also for the realization of ceramic-based composites are explored. Advantages with respect to existing techniques are analysed and current challenges are described to lay the ground for new processing opportunities to be faced in the near future.     

Effect of organic solvent on the cold sintering processing of SrFe12O19 platelet-based permanent magnets

In this work we have investigated the effect of the solvent during the processing of SrFe₁₂O₁₉ platelet-based permanent magnets by cold sintering process (CSP) plus a post-thermal treatment. Several organic solvents: glacial acetic acid, oleic acid and oleylamine have been analyzed, optimizing the CSP temperatures at 190?270 °C, under pressures of 375?670 MPa and 6?50 wt% of solvent. Modifications in the morphological and structural properties are identified depending on the solvent, which impacts on the magnetic response. Independently of the solvent, the mechanical integrity of ferrite magnets obtained by CSP is improved by a post-annealing at 1100 °C for 2 h, resulting in relative densities around 92 % with an average grain size of 1 μm and a fraction of SrFe₁₂O₁₉ phase >91 %. H_C ≥ 2.1 kOe and M_S of 73 emu/g are obtained in the final sintered ceramic magnets, exhibiting the highest H_C value of 2.8 kOe for the magnet sintered using glacial acetic acid.     

热轧圆钢热顶锻裂纹原因分析

热顶锻合格率是反映热轧圆钢实物质量的一个重要指标。在对国内外热轧圆钢热顶锻质量控制研究成果综述的基础上，对热轧圆钢的热顶锻质量进行了全面的调查、统计和试验研究，归纳了引起热轧圆钢热顶锻裂纹的常见原因，介绍了热顶锻裂纹分析步骤。通过对热顶锻裂纹的形貌和金相组织进行分析，阐述了引起热顶锻裂纹的冶炼因素和轧制因素，并进行了举例说明。     

Prediction of cooling efficiency of forced-air precooling systems based on optimized differential evolution and improved BP neural network

This paper proposes an approach to predict the efficiency of forced-air cooling of fresh apples that combines the optimized differential evolution (DE) algorithm and the back-propagation (BP) neural network algorithm. First, to balance population diversity and fast convergence, the individual mutation operation of the basic DE algorithm was optimized by dividing the entire population into two equal parts according to the fitness value of individuals, and DE-best-1 and DE-current-to-rand-1 are used as individual mutation operations for the superior- and inferior-part individuals, respectively. Moreover, the selection operation of basic DE was also changed by using a crowding scheme, which helps maintain population diversity and discover more regions containing the global optima. Second, an optimized DE-BP neural network model was established by using the optimized DE to determine the initial weights and thresholds of the BP neural network to avoid being trapped in local minima, following which the effect of input parameters on the network output was subjected to a comprehensive sensitivity analysis based on the trained neural network. The results show that the optimized DE-BP model accurately predicts the efficiency with which apples are cooled. Furthermore, the airflow velocity and total opening area have a significant negative correlation with the average apple temperature and a positive correlation with the cooling rate of the apples. Finally, the most important factor influencing the cooling efficiency of the pre-cooling system is the total opening area of the ventilated packaging.     

Application of the cold sintering process to the electrolyte material BaCe0.8Zr0.1Y0.1O3-δ

This paper describes and discusses the application of the original sintering process named cold sintering to the electrolyte material BaCe_0.8Zr_0.1Y_0.1O_3-δ to enhance its densification at a temperature below that needed in a conventional sintering. This new technique enables the acceleration of the densification resulting in a more compacted microstructure with an unexpected high relative density of 83 % at only 180 °C. A subsequent annealing at 1200 °C further enhances the densification which reaches 94 %. The electrochemical performance of CSP sintered ceramics was investigated and optimized by varying different process parameters. The comparison with the conventional sintered material reveals an increase of the total conductivity by mostly increasing the grain boundary one. This result emphasizes the benefits of CSP to not only reduce the sintering temperature but also to enhance the electrochemical properties.