Pure SnO2 has proven very difficult to densify. This poor densification can be useful for the fabrication of SnO2 with a porous microstructure, which is used in electronic devices such as gas sensors. Most electronic devices based on SnO2 have a porous microstructure, with a porosity of > 40%. In pure SnO2, a high sintering temperature of approximately 1300°C is required to obtain > 40% porosity. In an attempt to reduce the required sintering temperature, the present study investigated the low-temperature sinterability of a current system. With the addition of TiO2, the compositions of the samples were Sn1-xTixO2-CoO(0.3wt%)-CuO(2wt%) in the range of x ≤ 0.04. Compared to the samples without added TiO2, densification was shown to be improved when the samples were sintered at 950°C. The dominant mass transport mechanism appears to be grain-boundary diffusion during heat treatment at 950°C.

The low-temperature sinterability of TiO2-CuO systems was investigated using a solid solution of SnO2. Sample powders were prepared through conventional ball milling of mixed raw powders. With the SnO2 content, the compositions of the samples were Ti1-xSnxO2-CuO(2 wt.%) in the range of x  0.08. Compared with the samples without SnO2 addition, the densification was enhanced when the samples were sintered at 900oC. The dominant mass transport mechanism seemed to be grain-boundary diffusion during heat treatment at 900oC, where active grain-boundary diffusion was responsible for the improved densification. The rapid grain growth featured by activated sintering was also obstructed with the addition of SnO2. This suggested that both CuO as an activator and SnO2 dopant synergistically reduced the sintering temperature of TiO2.

The bone cement used for vertebroplasty must be sufficiently injectable. The introduction of granules reduces the amount of liquid required for liquefaction, implying that higher fluidity is achieved with the same amount of liquid. By employing β-tricalcium phosphate granules with an average diameter of 50 μm, changes in injectability are observed based on the paste preparation route and granular fraction. To obtain acceptable injectability, phase separation must be suppressed during injection, and sufficient capillary pressure to combine powder and liquid must work evenly throughout the paste. To achieve this, the granules should be evenly distributed. Reduced injection rates are observed for dry mixing and excessive granular content, owing to phase separation. All these correspond to conditions under which the clustered granules weakened the capillary pressure. The injected ratio of the paste formed by wet mixing displayed an inverted U-type shift with the granular fraction. The mixture of granules and powder resulted in an increase in the solid volume fraction, and a decrease in the liquid limit. This resulted in the enhancement of the liquidity, owing to the added liquid. It is inferred that the addition of granules improves the injectability, provided that the capillary pressure in the paste is maintained.

Ti0.5Al0.5N/CrN nano-multilayers, which are known to exhibit excellent wear resistances, were prepared using the unbalanced magnetron sputter for various periods of 2–7 nm. Ti0.5Al0.5N and CrN comprised a cubic structure in a single layer with different lattice parameters; however, Ti0.5Al0.5N/CrN exhibited a cubic structure with the same lattice parameters that formed the superlattice in the nano-multilayers. The Ti0.5Al0.5/CrN multilayer with a period of 5.0 nm exceeded the hardness of the Ti0.5Al0.5N/CrN single layer, attaining a value of 36 GPa. According to the low-angle X-ray diffraction, the Ti0.5Al0.5N/CrN multilayer maintained its as-coated structure up to 700oC and exhibited a hardness of 32 GPa. The thickness of the oxidation layer of the Ti0.5Al0.5N/CrN multilayered coating was less than 25% of that of the single layers. Thus, the Ti0.5Al0.5N/CrN multilayered coating was superior in terms of hardness and oxidation resistance as compared to its constituent single layers.

Nanoparticles of PbTe are prepared via chemical reaction of the equimolar aqueous solutions of Pb(CH3COO)2 and Te at 120°C. The size of the obtained particles is 100 nm after calcination in a hydrogen atmosphere. Dense specimens for the thermoelectric characterization are produced by spark plasma sintering of prepared powders at 400°C to 500°C under 80 MPa for 5 min. The relative densities of the prepared specimens reach approximately 97% and are identified as cubic based on X-ray diffraction analyses. The thermoelectric properties are evaluated between 100°C and 300°C via electrical conductivity, Seebeck coefficient, and thermal conductivity. Compared with PbTe ingot, the reduction of the thermal conductivities by more than 30% is verified via phonon scattering at the grain boundaries, which thus contributes to the increase in the figure of merit.