Investigation of the effects of pressure on the compaction and subsequent sintering of nanosize powders. Final report

With current technology and available raw materials, one knows that it is very difficult, if not impossible, to produce a monolithic ceramic material with an average grain size of less than 100 nm. The grains of ceramic materials cannot be refined by cold working as is typically done in metals. Hence, the starting ceramic powder must be of a smaller or similar particle size as the desired grain size for the final product. The availability of nanosize (<100 nm) ceramic powders, however, is limited. In many cases, the powders consist of polymorphic mixtures, precursors, or amorphous phases of the desired material. Phase transformation during sintering is difficult to control, and when it does occur it usually is accompanied by significant microstructural changes and grain growth. An example of such a powder is Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}. To the best of the authors` knowledge, high purity nanosize {alpha}-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} powder is unavailable commercially. However, a variety of nanosize transitional forms of Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}, including the {gamma} and {delta} polymorphs, are commercially available in large quantities as mixtures. Results on the compaction and sintering of nanosize {gamma}-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} powder are reported here