Abstract
Transparent mullite ceramics were developed by both microwave and conventional sintering of compacts starting with a diphasic aerogel near 1300°C. Both sintering processes were carried out in air at ambient pressure. The conventionally sintered sample was essentially non-crystalline, whereas the microwave sintered sample was highly crystalline mullite. Using a xerogel of the sane conposition, no transparency was achieved under the same conditions. The results indicate that the agglomeration-free microstructure of the starting aerogel was the key for achieving the transparency. The achievement of transparent mullite ceramics by microwave processing is attributed to the rapid-heating, accelerated-mullitization, enhanced densification, and limited grain-growth of the diphasic mullite gel in the microwave field.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 11-15 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Materials Letters |
Volume | 28 |
Issue number | 1-3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Sep 1996 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Materials Science(all)
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Mechanics of Materials
- Mechanical Engineering