Low temperature fabrication from nano-size ceramic powders

The objective of the compaction process is to produce a dense green-state compact from a nanosize powder that subsequently can be sintered at high temperatures to form a dense ceramic piece. High density in the green-state after pressing is of primary importance for achieving high densities after sintering. Investigation of the compaction behavior of ceramic powders, therefore, is an important part of characterization of raw ceramic powders and evaluation of their compaction behavior, analysis of interaction between particles, and the study of microstructure of green body (unsintered) during pressure-forming processes. The compaction of nanosize ceramic particles into high density green bodies is very difficult. For the nanosize materials used in this study (amorphous Si{sub 3}N{sub 4} and {gamma} Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}), there is no evidence by TEM of partial sintering after synthesis. Nevertheless, strong aggregation forces, such as the van der Waals surface forces of attraction, exist and result in moderate precursor particle agglomeration. More importantly, these attractive surface forces, which increase in magnitude with decreasing particle size, inhibit interparticle sliding necessary for particle rearrangement to denser bodies during subsequent compaction. Attempts to produce high density green body compacts of nanosize particles, therefore, generally have been focused on overcoming these surface forces of attraction by using either dispersive fluids or high pressures with or without lubricating liquids. In the present work, the use of high pressure has been employed as a means of compacting nanosize powders to relatively high green densities