Microwave hybrid fast sintering of red clay ceramics

This work aimed to examine the performance of the hybrid sintering of clay ceramic in a microwave furnace, compared to the sintering process in a conventional furnace. The raw materials were subjected to X-ray fluorescence, loss on ignition (LOI), X-ray diffraction, particle size distribution, real specific mass, and thermogravimetric analyses. The red clay ceramic mass was prepared, extruded, pre-sintered in a conventional furnace at 600°C/60 min, and sintered at temperatures between 700 °C and 1100 °C. The sintering conventional (resistive oven) was carried out for 60 min with a heating rate of 10°C/min. In the microwave furnace, the sintering times were 5, 10, and 15 min, with a heating rate of 50°C/min, with a sintering chamber coated with silicon carbide (susceptor). The sintered specimens were characterized according to linear shrinkage, water absorption, apparent porosity, apparent specific mass, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy analysis, spectroscopy analysis in the ultraviolet and visible regions, microhardness, and scanning electron microscopy. The results showed that microwave sintering promoted an increase in the microhardness and apparent specific mass, and reduction in water absorption and apparent porosity values, due to greater densification in the microstructure. The best results occurred for specimens sintered at 1100°C.     

Stabilizing effect of the cyclodextrins additive to spray-dried particles of curcumin/polyvinylpyrrolidone on the supersaturated state of curcumin

Although curcumin is considered to have various therapeutic effects, its use as a functional food or supplement is restricted owing to its low water solubility and bioavailability. To increase the solubility of curcumin in water, the use of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and vinylpyrrolidone-vinyl acetate copolymers with a pyrrolidone skeleton was noted to be promising. In particular, the bi-component formulations of curcumin/PVP prepared through spray drying exhibited an amorphous state in powder X-ray diffraction observations and temporally increased the apparent solubility of curcumin to over 5000 times that of untreated curcumin; nevertheless, after 24 h, the solubility decreased owing to the unstable supersaturated state of curcumin. The addition of α-cyclodextrin (α-CyD) in the bi-component curcumin/PVP formulation helped maintain the supersaturated state of curcumin, whereas the addition of β- and γ-CyD led to the collapse of the supersaturated state. The addition of α-CyD can likely help inhibit the nucleation and crystal growth of curcumin, through the interaction among the solubilized units of curcumin/PVP and α-CyD.     

Electron beam sterilization of cyclo olefin polymer leads to polymer degradation and production of alkyl radicals

We investigated the effects of electron‐beam (EB) sterilization on syringe barrels manufactured from cyclo olefin polymer (COP). The chemical structure of the polymer was determined by interpreting the ¹³C NMR and DEPT‐135 spectra of the COP resin. The antioxidants in the resin were identified by analyzing the liquid chromatography‐photo diode array‐mass spectrometry (LC‐PDA‐MS) data for the methanol extract of the resin and the gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry (GC‐MS) data for the supercritical methanol degradation products of the extract. NMR and LC‐PDA‐MS analyses revealed that EB sterilization produces degradation products in the COP main chain and reduces the quantity of the antioxidants in the COP resin. ESR spectra of the EB‐sterilized syringe barrels indicated the presence and location of alkyl radicals, which were generated in the COP main chain by EB sterilization. ESR analyses also indicated that the quantity of alkyl radicals decreased over time. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133, 43498.     

Sintering of commercial mulite powder: Effect of MgO dopant

MgO is one of the sintering aids most commonly used in the processing of mullite bodies. However, few studies have investigated the influence of MgO on the densification and microstructural development of mullite bodies, and the amount of MgO to be used as dopant is still a matter of controversy. Thus, this work investigated the efficiency of small amounts of MgO in the sintering of industrial mullite. MgO was added to obtain dopant concentrations of 0.1 and 0.5 wt.% in the mullite samples. Doped and nondoped samples were produced by cold isostatic pressing (CIP) at 200 MPa and pressureless sintering at 1500, 1550, 1600 and 1650 °C for 2 h. The use of 0.1 and 0.5 wt.% of MgO increased the final density of the sintered samples, with the doped samples reaching densities of 99% and the nondoped samples reaching densities of 95%. Elongated mullite grains were observed in the nondoped samples when their density fell below 95%, while the microstructures of bodies containing 0.1 wt.% of MgO were controlled up to densities of 98%. The 0.5% doped samples required lower sintering temperatures, however elongated mullite grains were observed when densities of 99% were reached.     

Solidification of a supercooled Pd77.5Cu6Si16.5 bulk sample

Journal of Materials Science Letters -     

Growth and microstructural characterization of SnSe-SnSe2 composite

As the Sn-Se eutectic solidification produces a lamellar structure, formed by SnSe and SnSe₂ compound, which are p and n semiconducting type, respectively, the SnSe-SnSe₂ in situ composite is a promising material to be used in photovoltaic device manufacturing. In this work, the Sn-Se alloys corresponding to the eutectic composition as well as to SnSe and SnSe₂ composition were processed by direction solidification at several solidification rates in a vertical Bridgman-Stockbarger crystal growth unit. The aim of the experiments was to evaluate the eutectic microstructure behavior as a function of directional solidification parameters. The obtained microstructures were analyzed by using X-ray diffraction and scanning electron and optical microscopies. The results obtained show that a very regular and aligned structure formed by the SnSe and SnSe₂ solid phase can be achieved. It was found that the presence of imperfections in the eutectic microstructure depends on the growth rate, and mainly, on the alloy homogenization process.     

Electrical properties of ZnO-based varistors prepared by combustion synthesis

Ceramic varistors are generally produced by the oxide mixing method or by chemical methods, such as sol–gel, precipitation and others. Chemical methods produce powders that are highly reactive, allowing for increased microstructural homogeneity and control of grain growth during sintering, which is essential for good varistor performance. The purpose of this work was to study the electrical characteristics of ZnO varistors produced from stoichiometric mixtures of water-soluble metal nitrates, such as precursor cations and urea as a fuel. This method, called combustion synthesis, stands out for its simplicity (a single-step reaction), purity, chemical homogeneity, and the high reactivity of the precursor powder. After sintering at 1050 °C using this method, varistors with a non-linear coefficient of 40 and the lowest leakage were obtained.