The grain growth behavior in the (1-x)K0.5Na0.5NbO3-
Grain-growth behavior in the 95Na1/2Bi1/2TiO3-5BaTiO3 (mole fraction, NBT-5BT) system has been investigated with the addition of Na2CO3. When Na2CO3 is added to NBT-5BT, the growth rate is higher than desired and grains are already impinging each other during the initial stage of sintering. The grain size decreases as the sintering temperature increases. With the addition of Na2CO3, a liquid phase infiltrates the interfaces between grains during sintering. The interface structure can be changed to be more faceted and the interface migration rate can increase due to fast material transport through the liquid phase. As the sintering temperature increases, the impingement of abnormal grains increases because the number of abnormal grains increases. Therefore, the average grain size of abnormal grains can be decreased as the temperature increases. The phenomenon can provide evidence that grain coarsening in NBT-5BT with addition of Na2CO3 is governed by the growth of facet planes, which would occur via mixed control.
Citations
Boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) are receiving great attention because of their unusual material properties, such as high thermal conductivity, mechanical strength, and electrical resistance. However, high-throughput and highefficiency synthesis of BNNTs has been hindered due to the high boiling point of boron (~ 4000°C) and weak interaction between boron and nitrogen. Although, hydrogen-catalyzed plasma synthesis has shown potential for scalable synthesis of BNNTs, the direct use of H2 gas as a precursor material is not strongly recommended, as it is extremely flammable. In the present study, BNNTs have been synthesized using radio-frequency inductively coupled thermal plasma (RF-ITP) catalyzed by solid-state ammonium chloride (NH4Cl), a safe catalyst materials for BNNT synthesis. Similar to BNNTs synthesized from h-BN (hexagonal boron nitride) + H2, successful fabrication of BNNTs synthesized from h-BN+NH4Cl is confirmed by their sheet-like properties, FE-SEM images, and XRD analysis. In addition, improved dispersion properties in aqueous solution are found in BNNTs synthesized from h-BN +NH4Cl.