5 Industry Applications of Microwave Sintering

Microwave sintering is a special type of sintering process characterized by the use of microwave radiation as a means of heating the material being sintered.

Microwave sintering is a relatively new technique and is generally categorized under non-conventional sintering techniques.

Microwave sintering is more power-efficient and produces higher-quality parts as compared to conventional sintering techniques.

During the process of microwave sintering, heat is applied to a compacted mass of powder to effect inter-particle diffusion of material, resulting in a single, integrated body.

Microwave sintering is most often used with metals but is also applicable to certain ceramics such as zirconia and lithium aluminosilicate.

This article talks about 5 new applications of Microwave Sintering, however, we have a report that include 10 new applications of Microwave Sintering that you can get by filling out the form below:

Manufacturing of capacitors by Microwave Sintering

To make capacitors by microwave sintering, a multilayer structure with alternating layers of a dielectric material and an electrode material is first created. The electrode material can be made up of nickel and copper.

The layers are then sintered by heating the structure using microwaves in an atmosphere having an oxygen partial pressure from 10-2 to 10-12 atm.

For more information about this process, please refer to this patent.

Making medical implants by Microwave Sintering

To make medical implants, carbon-based microwave susceptors are dispersed into an organic solvent to form a homogeneous suspension. Then bioactive fillers are dispersed in another organic solvent to form a homogeneous solution.

Titanium or its alloy powder is mixed with both the suspension and the solution to form a metal-based mixture. The microparticles and the metal-based mixture are cold-pressed into a metal-based compact.

The compact is then placed in a sintering container and a microwave burst is applied to sinter the metal-based compact.

This produces a porous metal-based biomaterial that can be used in dental and orthopedic implants.

More information about this process can be found in this patent.

Transparent alumina ceramic manufactured by Microwave Sintering

Transparent alumina ceramic can be manufactured by combining Al2O3 powder with magnesia of 0.05% by weight. The sample is formed by pressing at 300MPa and calcined at 1100°C.

The workpiece is then placed in a microwave chamber and sintered at 0.915 to 2.45 GHz in a single or multi-mode cavity at power levels of 1.5 kW to 6 kW.

In the presence of ultrahigh purity hydrogen as a sintering atmosphere, the heating rate is around 150°C per minute in the single-mode cavity and 100°C per minute in the multi-mode cavity.

The alumina ceramic reaches a maximum density and transparency after sintering at 1700°C for only 10 minutes, but sintering for up to 30 minutes results in a more highly transparent alumina product.

More information about this process can be found in this patent.

Making solid oxide cell electrodes by Microwave Sintering

Solid oxide cell electrodes can be made by sintering a layer of anode material on one surface of a solid electrolyte. A layer of the cathode material is applied on an opposite surface of the solid electrolyte.

The electrolyte is sintered by using microwave energy. The solid electrolyte has a thickness of 10 nm to 2 mm. The electrodes and fuel cells can exhibit tolerance to sulfur present in feed gases, e.g., up to 10 ppm H2S. Their performance can also decrease levels of carbon deposition (coking) compared to currently employed electrode materials.

For more details about the material of the electrodes, please refer to this patent.

Making ultra-thin ferrite sheets by Microwave Sintering

Ultra-thin ferrite sheets can be made in a two-step process:

  1. A ferrite raw cook is made by mixing 100 parts of ferromagnetic oxide powders, a tackiness agent of 5-25 part,s and softening agent 1-10 part to form a formation slip, slip is coated on plastic film or steel band. The dry rear ferrite raw cook forms a thickness of 50-500 μ m.
  1. The ferrite raw cook is placed on a load-bearing board where microwave sintering is carried out. Then, the obtained finished product is naturally cooled. The microwave frequency of described microwave sintering is 2.45GHZ.

During microwave sintering, ferrite raw cook is heated to 400-450°C with the low fire of microwave power 200-300W, followed by heating with the low fire insulation 4-5 hours of microwave power 150-250W. The ferrite raw cook is heated to 900-1000°C again with a high fire of microwave power 1100-1300W. Finally, the ferrite raw cook is incubated 1-3 hours with the moderate heat of microwave power 500-700W.

For more information refer to this patent.

Bonus: Get the report of 10 Industrial Applications of Microwave Sintering

There are many other industrial applications of microwave sintering. We have a pdf on 10 other Microwave sintering applications that you can get by filling out the form below:


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