主催: The Ceramic Society of Japan
共催: Iketani Science and Technology Foundation, International Ceramic Federation, Commemorative Organization for the Japan World Exposition '70, The American Ceramic Society, The Australasian Ceramic Society, The Chinese Ceramic Society, The Korean Ceramic Society, Joint Research Consortium of Synergy Ceramics/Fine Ceramics Research Association, Nanotechnology Researchers Network Center of Japan, The Special Coordination Funds for Promoting Science and Technology, Japan National Tourist Organization, Aichi Prefectural Government, CASIO SCIENCE PROMOTION FOUNDATION, DAIKO FOUNDATION, Nagoya Convention and Visitors Bureau, The Asahi Glass Foundation, The Kao Foundation For Arts And Sciences, The Murata Science Foundation, The Ogasawara Foundation for the Promotion of Science & Engineering, ASAHI GLASS CO., LTD. Research Center, CENTRAL GLASS CO., LTD., ELECTRIC GLASS INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION OF JAPAN (EGAJ), Hattori Company, Ltd., Hitachi Research Laboratory, Hitachi, Ltd., HOYA CORPORATION, INAX Corporation, ITOCHU CERATECH CORP., Japan Cement Association, KYOCERA Corporation, KYUSHU REFRACTORIES CO., LTD., MINO CERAMIC CO., LTD., Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd., NGK INSULATORS LTD., NGK SPARK PLUG CO., LTD., NICHIAS Corporation, NIKKO COMPANY, Nippon Electric Glass Co., Ltd., Nippon Sheet Glass Co., Ltd., NORITAKE CO., LIMITED, Tokuyama Corporation, TOTO LTD.
Microwave sintering is a process in which objective materials absorb microwaves and heat themselves from the inside. When microwave energy is effectively absorbed by the material, energy consumption for the sintering can be reduced. In this work, a domestic microwave oven (multimode cavity, 2.45 GHz) was employed for sintering ceramics. However, it is difficult to absorb microwaves effectively for long waves. Therefore, a method of efficiently absorbing the microwaves is needed. In general, dielectric loss of ceramics is low at room temperature, but high at high temperatures. A material with high dielectric loss at room temperature was used as a susceptor. The present investigation describes optimization of the heating system set up for the sintering of ZnO. Microwave processing resulted in a reduction of sintering time. A comparative study of ZnO using microwaves and by conventional heating was done using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observation. The density and average grain size of microwave and conventionally sintered specimens at 1100°C were similar.