Microstructure Characteristics and Possible Phase Evolution of the Coal Gangue-Steel Slag Ceramics Prepared by the Solid-State Reaction Methods

Industrial wastes such as steel slag and coal gangue etc.were chosen as raw materials for preparing ceramic via the conventional solid-state reaction method.With steel slag and coal gangue mixed in various mass ratios,from 100%steel slag to 100%coal gangue at 10%intervals,microstructure and possible phase evolution of the coal gangue-steel slag ceramics were investigated using X-ray powder diffraction,scanning electron microscopy,mercury intrusion porosimetry and Archimedes boiling method.The experimental results suggest that the phase compositions of the as-prepared ceramics could be altered with the increased amount of coal gangue in the ceramics.The anorthite-diopside eutectic can be formed in the ceramics with the mass ratios of steel slag to coal gangue arranged from 8:2 to 2:8,which was responsible for the melting of the steel slag-coal gangue ceramics at relatively high temperature.Further investigations on the microstructure suggested that the addition of the proper amount of steel slag in ceramic compositions was conducive to the pore formation and further contributed to an increment in porosity.

Effects of ZnO,FeO and Fe_(2)O_(3)on the spinel formation,microstructure and physicochemical properties of augite-based glass ceramics

Augite-based glass ceramics were synthesised using ZnO,FeO,and Fe_(2)O_(3)as additives,and the spinel formation,matrix structure,crystallisation thermodynamics,and physicochemical properties were investigated.The results showed that oxides resulted in numerous preliminary spinels in the glass matrix.FeO,ZnO,and Fe_(2)O_(3)influenced the formation of spinel,while FeO simplified the glass network.FeO and ZnO promoted bulk crystallisation of the parent glass.After adding oxides,the grains of augite phase were refined,and the relative quantities of augite crystal planes were also influenced.All samples displayed good mechanical properties and chemical stability.The 2wt%ZnO-doping sample displayed the maximum flexural strength(170.3 MPa).Chromium leaching amount values of all the samples were less than the national standard(1.5 mg/L),confirming the safety of the materials.In conclusion,an appropriate amount of zinc-containing raw material is beneficial for the preparation of augite-based glass ceramics.

Effects of Co_(2)O_(3)Addition on Microstructure and Properties of SiC Composite Ceramics for Solar Absorber and Storage

SiC composite ceramics for solar absorber and storage integration are new concentrating solar power materials.SiC composite ceramics for solar absorber and storage integration were fabricated using SiC,black corundum and kaolin as the raw materials,Co_(2)O_(3)as the additive via pressureless graphite-buried sintering method in this study.Influences of Co_(2)O_(3)on the microstructure and properties of SiC composite ceramics for solar absorber and storage integration were studied.The results indicate that sample D2(5wt%Co_(2)O_(3))sintered at 1480℃exhibits optimal performances for 119.91 MPa bending strength,93%solar absorption,981.5 kJ/kg(25-800℃)thermal storage density.The weight gain ratio is 12.58 mg/cm2after 100 h oxidation at 1000℃.The Co_(2)O_(3)can decrease the liquid phase formation temperature and reduce the viscosity of liquid phase during sintering.The liquid with low viscosity not only promotes the elimination of pores to achieve densification,but also increases bending strength,solar absorption,thermal storage density and oxidation resistance.A dense SiO_(2) layer was formed on the surface of SiC after 100 h oxidation at 1000℃,which protects the sample from further oxidation.However,excessive Co_(2)O_(3)will make the microstructure loose,which is disadvantageous to the performances of samples.

Study on Microstructure of Alumina Based Rare Earth Ceramic Composite

Analysis techniques such as SEM, TEM and EDAX were used to investigate the microstructure of rare earth reinforced Al2O3/(W, Ti)C ceramic composite. Chemical and physical compatibility of the composite was analyzed and in-terfacial microstructure was studied in detail. It is found that both Al2O3 and (W, Ti)C phases are interlaced with each other to form the skeleton structure in the composite. A small amount of pores and glass phases are observed inside the material which will inevitably influence the physical and mechanical property of the composite. Thermal residual stresses resulted from thermal expansion mismatch can then lead to the emergence of dislocations and microcracks. Interfaces and boundaries of different types are found to exist inside the Al2O3/(W, Ti)C rare earth ceramic composite, which is concerned with the addition of rare earth element and the extent of solid solution of ceramic phases.

Effect of La_2O_3 on Microstructure and Transmittance of Transparent Alumina Ceramics

Optically transparent alumina ceramics were fabricated by conventional process and sintered without pressure in H2 atmosphere. The results indicate that relative densities of alumina specimens increase to theoretical densities （T. D. ） with increasing content of La2O3. With increasing holding time during sintering, much less pores and larger grains were found in the sintered alumina samples. Higher transmittance was achieved in alumina codoped with MgO and La2O3 as compared with that doped with MgO only. The total-transmittance of alumina sample is up to 86% at twavelength range of 300 - 800 nm.

Microstructure and oxidation resistance of reactive plasma clad Cr_7C_3/γ-Fe ceramic composite coating

A new type oxidation resistance in situ Cr7 C3/γ-Fe ceramic composite coating was fabricated on hardened and tempered grade C steel by reactive plasma clad with Fe-Cr-C alloy powders. The oxidation resistance of the ceramic composite coating was investigated under the test condition of 900 ℃ and 50 hours. The results indicate that the coating has a rapidly solidified microstructure consisting of blocky primary Cr7 C3 and the inter-blocky Cr7 C3/γ-Fe eutectics and is metallurgically bonded to the hardened and tempered grade C steel substrate. The high temperature oxidation resistance of the coating is up to 1.9 times higher than that of grade C steel. The oxidation kinetics curve of the coating is conforming to the parabolic-rate law equation. The excellent oxidation resistance of the coating is mainly attributed to the continuous oxide films which consist of Cr203 and Fe203. The continuous oxide films can prevent the inner part of the coating from being further oxidized.

Influence of nickel addition on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Al2O3–5vol%ZrO2 ceramic composites prepared via precipitation method

The aim of this work was to investigate the microstructure and mechanical properties of 1vol%-Ni-added yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) toughened alumina composites. First, Ni powders were heterogeneously precipitated in an alumina–zirconia powder mixture suspended in water;the prepared specimens were then pressureless sintered at 1550°C/2 h in a 90vol%Ar/10vol% H2 atmosphere. The structure of phases and microstructure of the composites were characterized by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy, respectively. Mechanical characterization of the specimens was carried out through Vickers hardness, Vickers indentation toughness, and three-point flexural bending tests. The fine Ni particles were homogeneously dispersed throughout the alumina matrix because of the employed processing method. Furthermore, hardness and toughness values were found to increase by 8% and 50%, respectively, with Ni addition, whereas the relative densities and flexural strength values were found to remain unchanged.

Effects of Dysprosium Oxide Doping on Microstructure and Properties of Barium Titanate Ceramic

Different amounts of dysprosium oxide were incorporated into barium titanate powders synthesized by hydrothermal method. Relations of substitution behaviors and lattice parameters with solid-solubility were studied. Furthermore, the influences of dysprosium oxide doping fraction on grain size and dielectric properties of barium titanate ceramic, including dielectric constant and breakdown electric field strength , were investigated via scanning electron microscope, X-ray diffraction and electric property tester. The results show that dysprosium oxide can restrain abnormal grain growth during sintering and that fine-grained and high density of barium titanate ceramic can result in excellent dielectric properties. As mass fraction of dysprosium oxide is 0.6%, the lattice parameters of grain increase to the maximum because of the lowest vacancy concentration. The electric property parameters are cited as following： dielectric constant （25 ℃ ） reaches 4100, the change in relative dielectric constant with temperature is - 10% to 10% within the range of - 15 - 100 ℃, breakdown electric field strength （alternating current） achieves 3.2 kV·mm^-1, which can be used in manufacturing high voltage ceramic capacitors

Study on crystallization and microstructure of Li_2O-Al_2O_3-SiO_2 glass ceramics

Lithium aluminosilicate （LAS） glasses are generally difficult to prepare because of their high melting temperature. In this study, the preparation of LAS glasses was achieved at a relatively low melting temperature. The batch containing MgO-ZnO-LiEO- Al2O3-SiO2 was melted in a platinum crucible at 1550℃ for 2 h and was then followed by two- or three-step heat treatment processes for nucleation and crystal growth. The characterizations were carried out by differential thermal analysis, X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and UV-Vis-NIR scanning spectrophotometry. The hexagonal stuffed β-eucryptite solid solution crystallized at 840-960℃. Most of the hexagonal β-eucryptite solid solution transformed into the tetragonal β-spodumene solid solution at 1100℃. Almost all the aluminum atoms entered into the tetrahedral sites in the aluminosilicate network of the 6- eucryptite/β-quartz solid solution. All of the Al atoms did not belong to the aluminosilicate network of the β-spodumene solid solution. The glass ceramic with a mean grain size of 10-20 nm is transparent, the transmittance reaches -85% in the visible light wavelength.

Study on Microstructures of Micron Si_3N_4 Composite Ceramic with Addition of Nano SiC and SiC Whisker

The microstructures and crack propagating characteristic of Si 3N 4 (μ)/SiC (n, w) composite ceramic were studied with AEM. The Si 3N 4 (μ)/SiC (n, w) composite ceramic consists of β Si 3N 4, β SiC, a small amount of α Si 3N 4 and α SiC, and amorphous phase. Most of Si 3N 4 grains were equiaxed crystal and also there were some bulky columnar ones. Most of SiC particles and SiC whiskers distributed at the Si 3N 4 grain boundaries and a few of smaller SiC particles in the Si 3N 4 grains. Most of amorphous structure was in the junction of several Si 3N 4 grains and thin amorphous layer was observed only at a few of Si 3N 4 boundaries. Failured cracks propagated mainly along the boundaries of the Si 3N 4 grains and partially passed through Si 3N 4 grains. The path of crack propagating might change, branching and twisting of the cracks might occur when the expanding crack meet the SiC particle and/or SiC whisker. Effect of the microstructure on strength and toughness of the composite ceramic was briefly discussed.

Variations of Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Si-B-O-N Ceramics with Sintering Temperatures

Si-B-O-N powder without B-O bonds synthesized by polymeric precursor were hot-pressed into ceramics at different tempera-tures. The variations of microstructure and mechanical properties of Si-B-O-N ceramics have been investigated. Crystallization of Si-B-O-N ceramics occurred at about 1400癈. Density, elastic modulus, and flexural strength of the ceramics increased with the increasing sintering temperatures, and reached to their maximum values at 1600癈. By contrast, hardness and frac-ture toughness of the ceramics monotonically changed with increasing sintering temperatures. Hardness decreased, while the fracture toughness increased. The principal toughening mechanisms including crack deflection, crack bridging and plate grain pulling-out effects are discussed

Temperature Fluctuation Synthesis/Simultaneous Densification and Microstructure Control of Titanium Silicon Carbide (Ti_3SiC_2) Ceramics

A novel temperature fluctuation synthesis/simultaneous densification process was developed for the preparation of Ti3SiC2 bulk ceramics. In this process. Si is used as an in-situ liquid forming phase and it is favorable for both the solid-liquid synthesis and the densification of Ti3SiC2 rainies. The present work demonstrated that the temperature fluctuation synthesis/simultaneous densification process is one of the most effective and simple methods for the preparation of Ti3SiC2 bulk materials providing relatively low synthesis temperature. short reaction time; and simultaneous synthesis and densification. This work also showed the capability to control the microstructure, e.g., the preferred orientation, of the bulk Ti3SiC2 materials simply by applying the hot pressing pressure at different Stages of the temperature fluctuation process. And textured Ti3SiC2 bulk materials with {002} faces of laminated Ti3SiC2 grains normal to the hot pressing axis were prepared.

Microstructure and microwave dielectric properties of lead borosilicate glass ceramics with Al_2O_3

The effects of Al2O3 addition on both the sintering behavior and microwave dielectric properties of PbO-B2O3-SiO2 glass ceramics were investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscope (FTIR), differential thermal analysis (DTA), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results show that with the increase of Al2O3 content the bands assigned to [SiO4] nearly disappear. Aluminum replaces silicon in the glass network, which is helpful for the formation of boron-oxygen rings. The increase of the transition temperature Tg and softening temperature Tf of PbO-B2O3-SiO2 glass ceramics leads to the increase of liquid phase precipitation temperature and promotes the structure stability in the glasses, and consequently contributes to the decreasing trend of crystallization. Densification and dielectric constants increase with the increase of Al2O3 content, but the dielectric loss is worsened. By contrast, the 3% (mass fraction) Al2O3-doped glass ceramics sintered at 725 °C have better properties of density ρ=2.72 g/cm3, dielectric constant εr=6.78, dielectric loss tan δ=2.6×10-3 (measured at 9.8 GHz), which suggest that the glass ceramics can be applied in multilayer microwave devices requiring low sintering temperatures.

Effects of ZrO_2 on the Microstructure of a Mica Glass-ceramic

The effects of ZrO2 on the crystallinity of mica and microstructure of a machina- ble glassceramic were studied. It was found that ZrO2 is an effective nucleation agent in mica glass- ceramics. Stabilized by Ca2+, a lot of t--ZrO2 particles precipitate from ZrO2-mica glass-ceramics. The ZrO2 particles can effectively limit the growth of mica crystal and benefit the mechanical properties of glass-ceramics.

Microstructure and mechanical properties of 8YSZ ceramics by liquid-phase sintering with CuO-TiO_2 addition

The 8%(mass fraction) yttrium-partially-stabilized zirconia(8YSZ) ceramic was fabricated via liquid phase sintering at 1 200-1 400 °C by adding different mass ratios of CuO-16.7%TiO2(molar fraction) as sintering aid.Relative density,microstructure,Vickers hardness and bending strength as a function of sintering temperature and additive content were investigated.The experiment results show that liquid phase sintering at low temperature can be realized through adding CuO-16.7% TiO2 to 8YSZ.The Vickers hardness and bending strength of samples with sintering aid are generally much higher than those of samples without sintering aid for all sintering temperatures,and increase with the increase of sintering temperature.When the addition content of CuO-16.7% TiO2 is beyond 0.5%,the relative density,Vickers hardness and bending strength decrease with the increase of the mass ratio of sintering aid.Low additions of sintering aid are beneficial to aiding densification;high additions of sintering aid are detrimental to the sintered properties mainly due to greater amounts of pores generated by the volatilization of oxygen with the eutectic reaction between copper oxide and titanium dioxide.It is found that the fine grain size and high relative density are two main reasons of the high bending strength and Vickers hardness of the materials.

Microstructure and fracture behavior of SiO_2 glass ceramic and TC4 alloy joint brazed with TiZrNiCu alloy

Vacuum brazing of SiO2 glass ceramic and TC4 alloy using a commercially available TiZrNiCu foil was investigated. The interfacial microstructure and the fractures were examined with an optical microscope(OM) and an S-4700 scanning electron microscope(SEM) equipped with an energy dispersive spectrometer(EDS) and an electron probe X-ray microanalyzer(EPMA) . The structure of joint interface was identified by XRD(JDX-3530M) . Meanwhile,the fracture paths of the joints were comprehensively studied. The results show that processing parameters,especially the brazing temperature,have a significant effect on the microstructure and mechanical properties of joints. The typical interface structure is SiO2/Ti2O+Zr3Si2+Ti5Si3/(Ti,Zr) +Ti2O+ TiZrNiCu/Ti(s.s) /TiZrNiCu+Ti(s.s) +Ti2(Cu,Ni) /TC4 from SiO2 glass ceramic to TC4 alloy side. Based on the mechanical property tests,the joints brazed at 880 ℃ for 5 min has the maximum shear strength of 23 MPa.

Effect of nucleating agents on microstructure and mechanical properties of SiO_2-Al_2O_3-ZrO_2 glass-ceramics

SiO2-Al2O3-ZrO2 glasses with different nucleating agents were crystallized under special processing schedule. The microstructure and mechanical properties of the glass-ceramics in SiO2-Al2O3-ZrO2 system were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and three-point bending method. The results show that ZrO2 is not an effective nucleating agent in SiO2-Al2O3-ZrO2 system, while TiO2 is effective for the separation of spinel, and P2O5 facilitates solubility of ZrO2 in glass and crystallization. The main crystalline phases of the glass-ceramics are spinel, anorthite and tetragonal zirconia. With the increase of ZrO2 content in the glass, glass-ceramics show higher bending strength （120MPa） than others.

Microstructure and properties of mullite-based porous ceramics produced from coal fly ash with added Al_2O_3

Using coal fly ash slurry samples supplemented with different amounts of Al_2O_3,we fabricated mullite-based porous ceramics via a dipping-polymer-replica approach,which is a popular method suitable for industrial application.The microstructure,phase composition,and compressive strength of the sintered samples were investigated.Mullite was identified in all of the prepared materials by X-ray diffraction analysis.The microstructure and compressive strength were strongly influenced by the content of Al_2O_3.As the Al/Si mole ratio in the starting materials was increased from 0.84 to 2.40,the amount of amorphous phases in the sintered microstructure decreased and the compressive strength of the sintered samples increased.A further increase in the Al_2O_3 content resulted in a decrease in the compressive strength of the sintered samples.The mullite-based porous ceramic with an Al/Si molar ratio of 2.40 exhibited the highest compressive strength and the greatest shrinkage among the investigated samples prepared using coal fly ash as the main starting material.

Effect of Pb Substitution on the Microstructure and Ferroelectric Properties of Ba_(0.7)Sr_(0.3)TiO_3 Ceramic

Ferroelectric Ba0.7Sr0.3TiO3（BST） and partially Pb^2＋ substituted for Ba^2＋ ceramics （Ba0.7-xPbx）Sr0.3TiO3 （x=0.1-0.4, BPST） were prepared by using conventional solid-reaction method. XRD analysis shows that the samples microstructure changes from cubic phase to tetragonal one with the Pb^2＋ content increasing. ESEM analysis shows that the Pb^2＋ substituted samples have a denser and more uniform surface morphology than that of pure BST. Measured electrical properties suggest that the Pb^2＋ substitution for Ba^2＋ in the BST system enhances the ferroelectric performance obviously when x=0.2. In addition, the substitution increases the samples Curie temperature （To） r （Ba0.5Pb0.2）Sr0.3TiO3 ceramic has good ferroelectric properties measured at a maximal electric field of 30 kV/cm under the condition of room temperature. The corresponding saturated polarization （Ps）, remnant polarization （Pr） and coercive field （Ec） is respectively 15.687 μC/cm^2, 8.100 μ C/cm^2 and 6.611 kV/cm. The measured Tc of （Ba0.5Pb0.2）Sr0.3TiO3 is 117 ℃.