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Recently, the number of published papers on the sintering technologies activated by current have increased exponentially. In particular, it has been reported that the application of electric field as high as 120 V/cm permitted the instantaneous full densification of yttria stabilized tetragonal zirconia at the unusual low temperature of 850°C. The mechanisms of the so called flash sintering phenomenon are elucidated by analyzing the temperature distribution of the bulk sample under the application of the electric field.

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High temperature flexural strength of ZrB2–20 vol% SiC ceramics (ZS) up to 1600°C in high purity argon atmosphere was significantly improved by adding 5 vol% WC, but degraded when 5 vol% ZrC was added. ZrB2–20SiC–5WC ceramic (ZSW) has a very high strength (mean ± SD) of 675 ± 33 MPa at 1600°C, and also an elastic and transgranular fracture mode was observed. According to the analysis of the fracture modes and crack origins in ZSW ceramics, the improvement in strength above 1000°C was attributed to the removal of the oxide impurities from grain boundaries.

Bulk Ta4AlC3 ceramic was prepared by an in situ reaction synthesis/hot‐pressing method using Ta, Al, and C powders as the starting materials. The lattice parameter and a new set of X‐ray diffraction data were obtained. The physical and mechanical properties of Ta4AlC3 ceramic were investigated. Ta4AlC3 is a good electrical and thermal conductor. The flexural strength and fracture toughness are 372 MPa and 7.7 MPa·m1/2, respectively. Typically, plate‐like layered grains contribute to the damage tolerance of Ta4AlC3. After indentation up to a 200 N load, no obvious degradation of the residual flexural strength of Ta4AlC3 was observed, demonstrating the damage tolerance of this ceramic. Even at above 1200°C in air, Ta4AlC3 still retains a high strength and shows excellent thermal shock resistance, which renders it a promising high‐temperature structural material.

In this work, a bulk Nb4AlC3 ceramic was prepared by an in situ reaction/hot pressing method using Nb, Al, and C as the starting materials. The reaction path, microstructure, physical, and mechanical properties of Nb4AlC3 were systematically investigated. The thermal expansion coefficient was determined as 7.2 × 10−6 K−1 in the temperature range of 200°–1100°C. The thermal conductivity of Nb4AlC3 increased from 13.5 W·(m·K)−1 at room temperature to 21.2 W·(m·K)−1 at 1227°C, and the electrical conductivity decreased from 3.35 × 106 to 1.13 × 106Ω−1·m−1 in a temperature range of 5–300 K. Nb4AlC3 possessed a low hardness of 2.6 GPa, high flexural strength of 346 MPa, and high fracture toughness of 7.1 MPa·m1/2. Most significantly, Nb4AlC3 could retain high modulus and strength up to very high temperatures. The Young's modulus at 1580°C was 241 GPa (79% of that at room temperature), and the flexural strength could retain the ambient strength value without any degradation up to the maximum measured temperature of 1400°C.

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