Simple Fabrication and Carrier Type Modification of Semi-Conductive C/Al2O3 Composites by Powder Mixtures and Pulsed Electric Current Sintering

Semi-conductive C/Al2O3 ceramic composites were successfully fabricated by a pretty simple approach, combining a powder mixture process and pulsed electric current sintering. In order to obtain homogeneous distribution of carbon contents, popular polymers were used as carbon fillers to mix with Al2O3 powder by a wet ball milling step. The sintering was conducted by pulsed electric current sintering without any special requirement of the reductive environment like in conventional sintering. Density of bulk bodies, states of carbon contents after sintering and the electrical properties were analyzed in this study. Although the density of sintered bodies and their electrical properties were not superior, those characteristics of C/Al2O3 ceramic composites in this study were still comparatively high among semi-conductive ceramics. Especially, the carrier type of semi-conductive C/Al2O3 composites could be modified easily by adding polycarboxylic acid (PCA) in the powder mixture as a dispersant.

Highly Conductive Ceramics with Multiple Types of Mobile Charge Carriers

Functional ceramic materials are of interest in many applications due to their structural and chemical richness and the huge range of physical properties that can be generated and modified by the control of the former (electrical conductivity, thermo-mechanical properties, dielectric, piezoelectric, ferroelectric properties, etc [...]

Editorial for the Special Issue on Micro-Electro Discharge Machining: Principles, Recent Advancements and Applications

Micro Electrical Discharge Machining (micro-EDM) is a thermo-electric and contactless process most suited for micro-manufacturing and high-precision machining, especially when difficult-to-cut materials, such as super alloys, composites, and electro conductive ceramics, are processed [...]

Mechanical Stress Issues of La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3-δ

Ionic devices consisted of ion-conductive ceramics such as solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) and oxygen separation membranes have been developed in the last decades. La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3-δ (LSCF), which is a mixed ionic-electronic conductive ceramics, is especially expected to play an important role in those ionic devices and so its electrochemical properties have been intensively studied.