• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.144-150
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• 2018

$Al_2O_3-SiC$ ceramic composites are produced using pressureless sintering, and their plasma resistance, electrical resistance, and mechanical properties are evaluated to confirm their applicability as electrostatic-discharge-safe components for semiconductor devices. Through the addition of Mg and Y nitrate sintering aids, it is confirmed that even if SiC content exceeded 10%, complete densification is possible by pressureless sintering. By the uniform distribution of SiC, the total grain growth is suppressed to about $1{\mu}m$; thus an $Al_2O_3-SiC$ sintered body with a high strength over 600 MPa is obtained. The optimum amount of SiC to satisfy all the desired properties of electrostatic-discharge-safe ceramic components is obtained by finding the correlation between the plasma resistance and the electrical resistivity as a function of SiC amount.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.151-157
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• 2018

In this study, the compound $Li_3BO_3$ (LBO) is intended to be prepared by a polymeric complex method as a sintering aid for the densification of $Li_7La_3Zr_2O_{12}$ (LLZ) solid electrolyte. A polymeric precursor containing Li and B is heat-treated in an air atmosphere at a temperature range between $600^{\circ}C$ and $800^{\circ}C$. Instead of LBO, the compound $Li_{2+x}C_{1-x}B_xO_3$ (LCBO) is unexpectedly synthesized after a heat-treatment of $700^{\circ}C$. The effect of LCBO addition on sintering behavior and ion conductivity of LLZ is studied. It is found that the LCBO compound could lead to significant improvements in the densification and ionic conductivity of LLZ compared to pure LLZ. After sintering at $1100^{\circ}C$, the density of the LLZ-12wt%LBO composite is $3.72g/cm^3$, with a high Li-ion conductivity of $1.18{\times}10^{-4}Scm^{-1}$ at $28^{\circ}C$, while the pure LLZ specimen had a densify of $2.98g/cm^3$ and Li-ion conductivity of $5.98{\times}10^{-6}Scm^{-1}$.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.104-108
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• 2018

Grain-growth behavior in the $95Na_{1/2}Bi_{1/2}TiO_3-5BaTiO_3$ (mole fraction, NBT-5BT) system has been investigated with the addition of $Na_2CO_3$. When $Na_2CO_3$ is added to NBT-5BT, the growth rate is higher than desired and grains are already impinging each other during the initial stage of sintering. The grain size decreases as the sintering temperature increases. With the addition of $Na_2CO_3$, a liquid phase infiltrates the interfaces between grains during sintering. The interface structure can be changed to be more faceted and the interface migration rate can increase due to fast material transport through the liquid phase. As the sintering temperature increases, the impingement of abnormal grains increases because the number of abnormal grains increases. Therefore, the average grain size of abnormal grains can be decreased as the temperature increases. The phenomenon can provide evidence that grain coarsening in NBT-5BT with addition of $Na_2CO_3$ is governed by the growth of facet planes, which would occur via mixed control.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.120-125
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• 2018

Boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) are receiving great attention because of their unusual material properties, such as high thermal conductivity, mechanical strength, and electrical resistance. However, high-throughput and high-efficiency synthesis of BNNTs has been hindered due to the high boiling point of boron (${\sim}4000^{\circ}C$) and weak interaction between boron and nitrogen. Although, hydrogen-catalyzed plasma synthesis has shown potential for scalable synthesis of BNNTs, the direct use of $H_2$ gas as a precursor material is not strongly recommended, as it is extremely flammable. In the present study, BNNTs have been synthesized using radio-frequency inductively coupled thermal plasma (RF-ITP) catalyzed by solid-state ammonium chloride ($NH_4Cl$), a safe catalyst materials for BNNT synthesis. Similar to BNNTs synthesized from h-BN (hexagonal boron nitride) + $H_2$, successful fabrication of BNNTs synthesized from $h-BN+NH_4Cl$ is confirmed by their sheet-like properties, FE-SEM images, and XRD analysis. In addition, improved dispersion properties in aqueous solution are found in BNNTs synthesized from $h-BN+NH_4Cl$.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.115-121
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• 2017

In this work, p-type Bi-Sb-Te alloys powders are prepared using gas atomization, a mass production powder preparation method involving rapid solidification. To study the effect of the sintering temperature on the microstructure and thermoelectric properties, gas-atomized powders are consolidated at different temperatures (623, 703, and 743 K) using spark plasma sintering. The crystal structures of the gas-atomized powders and sintered bulks are identified using an X-ray diffraction technique. Texture analysis by electron backscatter diffraction reveals that the grains are randomly oriented in the entire matrix, and no preferred orientation in any unique direction is observed. The hardness values decrease with increasing sintering temperature owing to a decrease in grain size. The conductivity increases gradually with increasing sintering temperature, whereas the Seebeck coefficient decreases owing to increases in the carrier mobility with grain size. The lowest thermal conductivity is obtained for the bulk sintered at a low temperature (603 K), mainly because of its fine-grained microstructure. A peak ZT of 1.06 is achieved for the sample sintered at 703 K owing to its moderate electrical conductivity and sustainable thermal conductivity.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.321-325
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• 2017

In this study, we investigate the optical properties of InP/ZnS core/shell quantum dots (QDs) by controlling the synthesis temperature of InP. The size of InP determined by the empirical formula tends to increase with temperature: the size of InP synthesized at $140^{\circ}C$ and $220^{\circ}C$ is 2.46 nm and 4.52 nm, respectively. However, the photoluminescence (PL) spectrum of InP is not observed because of the formation of defects on the InP surface. The growth of InP is observed during the deposition of the shell (ZnS) on the synthesized InP, which is ended up with green-red PL spectrum. We can adjust the PL spectrum and absorption spectrum of InP/ZnS by simply adjusting the core temperature. Thus, we conclude that there exists an optimum shell thickness for the QDs according to the size.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.308-314
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• 2017

$Fe_3O_4$/Fe/graphene nanocomposite powder is synthesized by electrical wire explosion of Fe wire and dispersed graphene in deionized water at room temperature. The structural and electrochemical characteristics of the powder are characterized by the field-emission scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, field-emission transmission electron microscopy, cyclic voltammetry, and galvanometric discharge-charge method. For comparison, $Fe_3O_4$/Fe nanocomposites are fabricated under the same conditions. The $Fe_3O_4$/Fe nanocomposite particles, around 15-30 nm in size, are highly encapsulated in a graphene matrix. The $Fe_3O_4$/Fe/graphene nanocomposite powder exhibits a high initial charge specific capacity of 878 mA/g and a high capacity retention of 91% (798 mA/g) after 50 cycles. The good electrochemical performance of the $Fe_3O_4$/Fe/graphene nanocomposite powder is clearly established by comparison of the results with those obtained for $Fe_3O_4$/Fe nanocomposite powder and is attributed to alleviation of volume change, good distribution of electrode active materials, and improved electrical conductivity upon the addition of graphene.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.292-297
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• 2017

A metallic oxide layer of a heat-resistant element contributes to the high-temperature oxidation resistance by delaying the oxidation and has a positive effect on the increase in electrical resistivity. In this study, green compacts of Fecralloy powder mixed with amorphous and crystalline silica are oxidized at $950^{\circ}C$ for up to 210 h in order to evaluate the effect of metal oxide on the oxidation and electrical resistivity. The weight change ratio increases as per a parabolic law, and the increase is larger than that observed for Fecralloy owing to the formation of Fe-Si, Fe-Cr composite oxide, and $Al_2O_3$ upon the addition of Si oxide. Si oxides promote the formation of $Al_2O_3$ and Cr oxide at the grain boundary, and obstruct neck formation and the growth of Fecralloy particles to ensure stable electrical resistivity.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.381-387
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• 2020

In this work, TiO₂ 3D nanostructures (TF30) were prepared via a facile wet chemical process using ammonium hexafluorotitanate. The synthesized 3D TiO₂ nanostructures exhibited well-defined crystalline and hierarchical structures assembled from TiO₂ nanorods with different thicknesses and diameters, which comprised numerous small beads. Moreover, the maximum specific surface area of TiO₂ 3D nanostructures was observed to be 191 ㎡g^-1, with concentration of F ions on the surface being 2 at%. The TiO₂ 3D nanostructures were tested as photocatalysts under UV irradiation using Rhodamine B solution in order to determine their photocatalytic performance. The TiO₂ 3D nanostructures showed a higher photocatalytic activity than that of the other TiO₂ samples, which was likely associated with the combined effects of a high crystallinity, unique features of the hierarchical structure, a high specific surface area, and the advantage of adsorbing F ions.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.401-405
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• 2020

Magnesium hydroxide sulfate hydrate (MHSH) whiskers were synthesized via a hydrothermal reaction by using MgO as the reactant as well as the acid solution. The effects of the H₂SO₄ amount and reaction time at the same temperature were studied. In general, MHSH whiskers were prepared using MgSO₄ in aqueous ammonia. In this work, to reduce the formation of impurities and increase the purity of MHSH, we employed a synthesis technique that did not require the addition of a basic solution. Furthermore, the pH value, which was controlled by the H₂SO₄ amount, acted as an important factor for the formation of high-purity MHSH. MgO was used as the raw material because it easily reacts in water and forms Mg⁺ and MgOH⁺ ions that bind with SO₄^2- ions to produce MHSH. Their morphologies and structures were determined using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).