This study evaluated the synthesis of optimal materials for high efficiency adsorption and removal characteristics of Cs-137 for radioactive contaminated water, and considered thermal treatment methods to stabilize the spent adsorbent generated after treatment. We synthesized a composite adsorbent with a combination of impregnating metal ferrocyanide that improves the selectivity of Cs adsorption with zeolite capable of removing Cs as a support. The Cs removal efficiency of the composite adsorbent was evaluated, and the stability change of Cs according to the high-temperature sintering was evaluated as a stabilization method of the spent adsorbent. The metal ferrocyanide content of the adsorbent was in the range of 11.8~36.0%. The adsorption experiments were performed using a simulated liquid waste to have a total Cs concentration of 1 mg/L while containing a trace amount of Cs-137, and then gamma radioactivity was analyzed. In order to evaluate the stabilization of the spent adsorbent, heat treatment was performed in the range of 500~1,100°C, and the volatilization rate of Cs during heat treatment and the leaching rate of Cs after heat treatment were compared. In the adsorption experiment, the Cs removal efficiency was higher than 99%, regardless of the amount of metal ferrocyanide in the composite adsorbent. In the sintering experiment on the spent adsorbent, it was confirmed that there was no volatilization of Cs up to 850°C, and then the volatilization rate increased as the heating temperature increased. On the other hand, the leaching rate of Cs in the sintered adsorbent tends to significantly decrease as the heating temperature increases, so that Cs can be stabilized in the sintered body. In addition, as the content of metal ferrocyanide increases, the volatilization rate of Cs rapidly increases, indicating that the unstable metal ferrocyanide in the adsorbent may adversely affect the removal of Cs as well as the thermal treatment stability.

An alternative fabrication method for carburizing steel using spark plasma sintering (SPS) is investigated. The sintered carburized sample, which exhibits surface modification effects such as carburizing, sintered Fe, and sintered Fe–0.8 wt.%C alloys, is fabricated using SPS. X-ray diffraction and micro Vickers tests are employed to confirm the phase and properties. Finite element analysis is performed to evaluate the change in hardness and analyze the carbon content and residual stress of the carburized sample. The change in the hardness of the carburized sample has the same tendency to predict hardness. The difference in hardness between the carburized sample and the predicted value is also discussed. The carburized sample exhibits a compressive residual stress at the surface. These results indicate that the carburized sample experiences a surface modification effect without carburization. Field emission scanning electron microscopy is employed to verify the change in phase. A novel fabrication method for altering the carburization is successfully proposed. We expect this fabrication method to solve the problems associated with carburization.

The impact of different mixing methods and sintering temperatures on the microstructure and piezoelectric properties of PZNN-PZT ceramics is investigated. To improve the sinterability and piezoelectric properties of these ceramics, the composition of 0.13Pb((Zn0.8Ni0.2)1/3Nb2/3)O3-0.87Pb(Zr0.5Ti0.5)O3 (PZNN-PZT) containing a Pb-based relaxor component is selected. Two methods are used to create the powder for the PZNN-PZT ceramics. The first involves blending all source powders at once, followed by calcination. The second involves the preferential creation of columbite as a precursor, by reacting NiO with Nb2O5 powder. Subsequently, PZNN-PZT powder can be prepared by mixing the columbite powder, PbO, and other components, followed by an additional calcination step. All the PZNNPZT powder samples in this study show a nearly-pure perovskite phase. High-density PZNN-PZT ceramics can be fabricated using powders prepared by a two-step calcination process, with the addition of 0.3 wt% MnO2 at even relatively low sintering temperatures from 800℃ to 1000℃. The grain size of the ceramics at sintering temperatures above 900℃ is increased to approximately 3 μm. The optimized PZNN-PZT piezoelectric ceramics show a piezoelectric constant (d33) of 360 pC/N, an electromechanical coupling factor (kp) of 0.61, and a quality factor (Qm) of 275.

In membrane applications for wastewater treatment, polymeric membranes are dominant due to their processbility and low cost. To enlarge the membrane application in industrial effluent treatment, membrane materials with high mechanical and chemical tolerance should be needed. Although ceramics such as alumina would be good options for harsh environmental conditions, high cost and complex production methods hinder the application of ceramic membranes. Here, we demonstrate the preparation of cost-effective, robust alumina hollow fiber membranes (HFMs). Alumina HFMs prepared with phase inversion method followed by sintering showed narrow pore size distribution. Also, characteristics of the membrane can be easily tuned by controlling spinning and post treatment conditions.

In this study, bulk nickel-carbon nanotube (CNT) nanocomposites are synthesized by a novel method which includes a combination of ultrasonication, electrical explosion of wire in liquid and spark plasma sintering. The mechanical characteristics of the bulk Ni-CNT composites synthesized with CNT contents of 0.7, 1, 3 and 5 wt.% are investigated. X-ray diffraction, optical microscopy and field emission scanning electron microscopy techniques are used to observe the different phases, morphologies and structures of the composite powders as well as the sintered samples. The obtained results reveal that the as-synthesized composite exhibits substantial enhancement in the microhardness and values more than 140 HV are observed. However an empirical reinforcement limit of 3 wt.% is determined for the CNT content, beyond which, there is no significant improvement in the mechanical properties.

Cu-Mn compacts are fabricated by the pulsed current activated sintering method (PCAS) for sputtering target application. For fabricating the compacts, optimized sintering conditions such as the temperature, pulse ratio, pressure, and heating rate are controlled during the sintering process. The final sintering temperature and heating rate required to fabricate the target materials having high density are 700oC and 80oC/min, respectively. The heating directly progresses up to 700oC with a 3 min holding time. The sputtering target materials having high relative density of 100% are fabricated by employing a uniaxial pressure of 60 MPa and a sintering temperature of 700oC without any significant change in the grain size. Also, the shrinkage displacement of the Cu-Mn target materials considerably increases with an increase in the pressure at sintering temperatures up to 700oC.

In this study, ternary compound Max Phase Ti2AlC material was mixed by 3D ball milling as a function of ball milling time. More than 99.5 wt% pure Ti2AlC was synthesized by using spark plasma sintering method at 1000, 1100, 1200, and 1300oC for 60 min. The material characteristics of synthesized samples were examined with relative density, hardness, and electrical conductivity as a function of sintering temperature. The phase composition of bulk was identified by X-ray diffraction. On the basis of FE-SEM result, a terraced structures which consists of several laminated layers were observed. And Ti2AlC bulk material obtained a vickers hardness of 5.1 GPa at the sintering temperature of 1100oC.

In recent years, industrial demands for superior mechanical properties of powder metallurgy steel components with low cost are rapidly growing. Sinter hardening that combines sintering and heat treatment in continuous one step is cost-effective. The cooling rate during the sinter hardening process dominates material microstructures, which finally determine the mechanical properties of the parts. This research establishes a numerical model of the relation between various cooling rates and microstructures in a sinter hardenable material. The evolution of a martensitic phase in the treated microstructure during end quench tests using various cooling media of water, oil, and air is predicted from the cooling rate, which is influenced by cooling conditions, using the finite element method simulations. The effects of the cooling condition on the microstructure of the sinter hardening material are found. The obtained limiting size of the sinter hardening part is helpful to design complicate shaped components.

Effect of oxygen content in the ultrafine tungsten powder fabricated by electrical explosion of wire method on the behvior of spark plasma sintering was investigated. The initial oxygen content of 6.5 wt% of as-fabricated tungsten powder was reduced to 2.3 and 0.7 wt% for the powders which were reduction-treated at 400˚C for 2 hour and at 500˚C for 1h in hydrogen atmosphere, respectively. The reduction-treated tungsten powders were spark-plasma sintered at 1200-1600˚C for 100-3600 sec. with applied pressure of 50 MPa under vacuum of 0.133 Pa. Maximun sindered density of 97% relative density was obtained under the condition of 1600˚C for 1h from the tungsten powder with 0.7 wt% oxygen. Sintering activation energy of 95.85kJ/mol-1 was obtained, which is remarkably smaller than the reported ones of 380~460kJ/mol-1 for pressureless sintering of micron-scale tungsten powders.

Thermoelectric conversion efficiency of thermoelectric elements can be increased by using a structure combining n-type and p-type semiconductors. From the above point of view, attention was directed at ZnO as a candidate n-type semiconductor material and investigations were made. As the result, a dimensionless figure of merit ZT close to 0.28 (1073K) was obtained for specimens produced by the PCS (Pulse Current Sintering) method with addition of specified quantities of , CoO, and to ZnO. It was found that the interstitial in the ZnO restrains the grain growth and CoO acts onto the bond between grains. The influence of the inclusion of and CoO onto the sintering behavior also was investigated.

The influence of the internal current for the ZnO ceramics on the sintering behavior by pulse current sintering (PCS) method was investigated. To clear the dependence of inner current on the sintering behavior of ZnO ceramics, direct measurement of electric resistance of ZnO specimen under sintering by SPS device was carried out. It was observed that electric resistance of specimen decreases with increase in the temperature. The electric resistance begins to decrease from the low temperature of . The internal structure of sintered ZnO ceramics changed by the control of the internal current in the specimen using plate.

N-type solid solutions doped with 1 was prepared by melt spinning, crushing and vacuum sintering processes. Microstructure, bending strength and thermoelectric property were investigated as a function of the doping quantity from 0.03wt.% to 0.10wt.% and sintering temperature from to , and finally compared with those of conventionally fabricated alloys. The alloy showed a good structural homogeneity as well as bending strength of . The highest thermoelectric figure of merit was obtained by doping 0.03wt.% and sintering at .

Implant prototypes with various porosities were fabricated by electro-discharge-sintering of atomized spherical Ti-6Al-4V powders. Single pulse of 0.75 to 2.0 kJ/0.7 g-powder, using 150, 300, and capacitors was applied to produce a fully porous and porous surfaced implant compact. The solid core formed in the center of the compact after discharge was composed of acicular grains and porous layer consisted of particles connected in three dimensions by necks. The solid core and neck sizes increased with an increase in input energy and capacitance. On the other hand, pore volume decreased with increased capacitance and input energy due to the formation of solid core. Capacitance and input energy are the only controllable discharge parameters even though the heat generated during a discharge is the unique parameter that determines the porosity of compact. It is known that electro-discharge-sintering of spherical Ti-6Al-4V powders can efficiently produce fully-porous and porous surfaced Ti-6Al-4V implants with various porosities in a short time less then 400 isec by manipulating the discharging condition such as input energy and capacitance including powder size.

A new process using rapid solidification (melt spinning method) followed by pressing and sintering was investigated to produce the n-type thermoelectric ribbons of 90% +10% doped with . Quenched ribbons are very brittle and consisted of homogeneous pseudo-binary solid solutions. Property variations of the materials was investigated as a function of variables, such as dopant quantity and sintering temperature. When the process parameters were optimized, the maximum figure of merit was .