Characterization of Al2O3 Samples and NiAl–Al2O3 Composite Consolidated by Pulse Plasma Sintering

The paper describes an investigation of Al2O3 samples and NiAl–Al2O3 composites consolidated by pulse plasma sintering (PPS). In the experiment, several methods were used to determine the properties and microstructure of the raw Al2O3 powder, NiAl–Al2O3 powder after mechanical alloying, and samples obtained via the PPS. The microstructural investigation of the alumina and composite properties involves scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The relative densities were investigated with helium pycnometer and Archimedes method measurements. Microhardness analysis with fracture toughness (KIC) measures was applied to estimate the mechanical properties of the investigated materials. Using the PPS technique allows the production of bulk Al2O3 samples and intermetallic ceramic composites from the NiAl–Al2O3 system. To produce by PPS method the NiAl–Al2O3 bulk materials initially, the composite powder NiAl–Al2O3 was obtained by mechanical alloying. As initial powders, Ni, Al, and Al2O3 were used. After the PPS process, the final composite materials consist of two phases: Al2O3 located within the NiAl matrix. The intermetallic ceramic composites have relative densities: for composites with 10 wt.% Al2O3 97.9% and samples containing 20 wt.% Al2O3 close to 100%. The hardness of both composites is equal to 5.8 GPa. Moreover, after PPS consolidation, NiAl–Al2O3 composites were characterized by high plasticity. The presented results are promising for the subsequent study of consolidation composite NiAl–Al2O3 powder with various initial contributions of ceramics (Al2O3) and a mixture of intermetallic–ceramic composite powders with the addition of ceramics to fabricate composites with complex microstructures and properties. In composites with complex microstructures that belong to the new class of composites, in particular, the synergistic effect of various mechanisms of improving the fracture toughness will be operated.

Impact of Sandblasting on Morphology, Structure and Conductivity of Zirconia Dental Ceramics Material

Over the last decade, zirconia (ZrO2)-based ceramic materials have become more applicable to modern dental medicine due to the sustained development of diverse computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) systems. However, before the cementation and clinical application, the freshly prepared zirconia material (e.g., crowns) has to be processed by sandblasting in the dental laboratory. In this work, the impact of the sandblasting on the zirconia is monitored as changes in morphology (i.e., grains and cracks), and the presence of impurities might result in a poor adhesive bonding with cement. The sandblasting is conducted by using Al2O3 powder (25, 50, 110 and 125 µm) under various amounts of air-abrasion pressure (0.1, 0.2, 0.4 and 0.6 MPa). There has been much interest in both the determination of the impact of the sandblasting on the zirconia phase transformations and conductivity. Morphology changes are observed by using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), the conductivity is measured by Impedance Spectroscopy (IS), and the phase transformation is observed by using Powder X-Ray Diffraction (PXRD). The results imply that even the application of the lowest amount of air-abrasion pressure and the smallest Al2O3 powder size yields a morphology change, a phase transformation and a material contamination.

Functionalization of the Fine Al2O3 Abrasive by the Polyacrylamide Deposition

In order to enhance the dispersion stability of ultra-fine Al2O3 powder in aqueous media, the alumina particles were modified with silane coupling agent KH570 at first, and then 2,2'-Azobis(2-amidinopropane) dihydrochloride (AIBA) was anchored onto the modified Al2O3 to initiate the graft polymerization of acrylamide monomer (AM), and PAM/Al2O3 composite particles were obtained finally. The structure and dispersion property of Al2O3 composite particles were characterized by XPS, FTIR, laser particle size analyzer, micro electrophoresis apparatus, SEM and spectrophotometer. The results indicated that the attained composite abrasive when water-soluble azo initiator was added at 40 ℃ showed good dispersion stability in aqueous media with PAM as shell and Al2O3 as core. Compared with unmodified Al2O3, the reunion phenomenon of grafting polymerization modified Al2O3 powder was improved by AM, the D50 of the modified particles reduced. The isoelectric point (IEP) of the grafting modified particles migrated, and the zeta potential of the modified particles reached to the maximum value when the pH was 9. After PAM/Al2O3 abrasive polished, the surface roughness of NiP/Al hard disk surface was obviously reduced.