Nanocomposites Through Cold Sintering: Designing the Intergranular Boundaries of Ceramics.
Abstract
Cold sintering is a new concept that enables ceramic materials and their composites to be fabricated at temperatures around 200°C under very short times. For comparison, conventional sintering of ceramics usually takes multiple hours (5 6 hours), and temperatures in excess of 1000°C. This process has been enabled by the use of a liquid phase addition that controls the important exchange of ions between the liquid phase and the solid phase very effectively, therefore avoiding the typical high temperature activated processes that the traditional ceramic production has utilized for thousands of years. Working at these low temperatures also enables the possibility of fabricating new types of composites, where a ceramic matrix, being the dominant phase, can have nanomaterials distributed around each individual grain. Incorporating even a few vol% of nanomaterial induces dramatic changes in properties, and we can design properties that previously were unrealized. The inability to do this with conventional methods and their associated high temperatures created major problems, such as decomposition of the nanophases and other chemical reactions. We envisage within this program the ability to make new types of composite materials and devices with different mechanical, chemical, and electrical responses. We are particularly interested in exploring these for important aerospace applications.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jan 14, 2022
- Source ID
- FA95501910372
Entities
People
- Clive A. Randall
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Pennsylvania State University
- United States Air Force