Particle Size Effects on the Sintering of ZnO
A. W. Jaworski, Jr., O. C. Wilson, Jr., T. Olorunyolemi, I. K. Lloyd, Y. Carmel
Dept. of Materials and Nuclear Engineering and The Institute for Plasma Research
University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742
101st Annual Meeting & Exposition, The American Ceramic Society
Indianapolis, IN, April 25-28, 1999
ABSTRACT. The effect of particle size on the sintering of ZnO powder compacts was studied via contact dilatometry. ZnO samples were uniaxially and isostatically pressed from commercial ZnO powders (30 nm - 1 um). ZnO samples were heated from room temperature to 1150oC in an Orton dilatometer. As much as a 300oC difference in sintering temperature was observed between nano-size and micron ZnO samples. These results will be discussed in the context of using conventional and microwave processing to control the microstructure of sintered ceramics.