Two-Step Sintering of Ceramics

Abstract

Sintering is a critical phase in the production of ceramic bodies. By controlling the density and microstructure formation, sintering now emerged as a processing technology of ceramic materials. Tailoring the structural, mechanical, electrical, magnetic and optical properties is widening the application of ceramics in various fields. Recently, many advanced sintering methods have reported to fabricate ceramic materials with controlled properties. Two-stage sintering (TSS) is one of the simple and cost-effective methods to obtain near-theoretical density materials with controlled grain growth without adding any dopants. Many recent works have reported the use of TSS as a processing method to fabricate nanoceramics for various applications. With this background, this chapter reviews the advantages of TSS in ceramic preparation based on properties and materials and explores the future directions.

Fabrication of Fine-Grained Functional Ceramics by Two-Step Sintering or Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS)

“…a frozen microstructure due to slower kinetics [27,28]. The kinetic window separates grain boundary diffusion and grain boundary migration.…”

Microstructure and mechanical properties of Al2O3/ZrO2 composites by two‐step sintering

“…In order to obtain ceramic composites with high performance, controlled processing must be applied for achieving the desired properties. In general, these properties are associated with dense and refined microstructures 6 …”

“…In general, these properties are associated with dense and refined microstructures. 6 Different processing routes and sintering methods promote different microstructures. [7][8][9][10] The sintering process is responsible for the final microstructure of the ceramics, 11 and in single-step sintering (SSS) to achieve high density, grain growth usually occurs.…”

“…12,13 Thus, one of the processes that have been studied to control the microstructure is two-step sintering (TSS), in which the heating curve is obtained in two step. 6,14 This process was first presented by Chen and Wang 15 and consisted of submitting the material to a high temperature in the first step for a short period. In the second step, the temperature is lower for a more extended period.…”

Conventional Sintering Effects on the Microstructure and Electrical Characteristics of Low-Voltage Ceramic Varistor

“…Sintering of ceramic powder compacts will undergo several significant changes including chemical reactions in the solid state such as decomposition, oxidation and phase transformations. The sintering proceeds in different ways for different ceramic materials to provide densification of ceramic powder compact to improve the properties of the material [1].…”