Rapid microwave drying was examined on wet green bodies using nano-sized powders prepared by slip casting and tape casting and was compared with conventional drying techniques. The warpage of dried body is smaller in microwave drying than other conventional drying methods. Clearly, the homogeneous heating of microwave contributed to the uniformity of temperature and water contents in the green body during the drying period. The microwave heating has merits in both rapid drying and uniform structure of dried bodies. It not only reduces the drying periods, but also improves the characteristics of green body. From these results, we believe that microwave drying is useful technique for next generation ceramics production represented by nanotechnology.
