What is it about?
Our investigation proved that macropores present in the precursor Y2O3 powders, produced using combustion synthesis, influence negatively the final ceramics microstructure i.e. there is residual porosity in the ceramic samples. We show that the precursor macropores can be minimized by decreasing the combusted and annealing temperature of the precursor powder. A minimum temperature of 650 °C is required in order to fully eliminate the carbonate species and to obtain a fully dense Y2O3 ceramic, with a very fine and homogeneous microstructure (average grain size of around 300 nm) and better mechanical properties than the ceramics made from the micron-sized commercial Y2O3 powder.
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Why is it important?
We are hopeful that the further optimization of the different steps in the ceramic fabrication process (i.e. the shaping and subsequent Spark Plasma Sintering steps) will lead to fully dense nanostructured ceramic materials with better optical and even better mechanical properties, without the need for additives during sintering.
Perspectives
Writing this article was a great pleasure as it has co-authors with whom I have had long standing collaborations. We believe that the findings presented in this paper will be of use to many fellow researchers working on materials produced by combustion synthesis or modifications of that process.
Dr Radenka Krsmanovic Whiffen
COST Association
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This page is a summary of: Nanostructured Y 2 O 3 ceramics elaborated by Spark Plasma Sintering of nanopowder synthesized by PEG assisted combustion method: The influence of precursor morphological characteristics, Ceramics International, December 2017, Elsevier,
DOI: 10.1016/j.ceramint.2017.08.153.
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