Effects of Microwave Heating in Nanostructured Ceramic Materials

Abstract

This paper studies the influence of microwave heating on mass transport phenomena and phase transformations in nanostructured ceramic materials. The mass transport enhancement that depends significantly on the microwave field intensity is observed during microwave annealing of nanoporous alumina membranes. The effect of the microwave field on phase transformations and pore structure evolution in alumina powder compacts is characterized quantitatively. Preferred orientation of pores in ceramics sintered using heating by linearly polarized microwave radiation is predicted theoretically and demonstrated experimentally. Decrease in the activation energy of plastic deformation is experimentally observed for alumina-based ceramics under microwave heating.