2017 Volume 112 Issue 3 Pages 127-131
The sintering behavior of diopside nano–sized powder was studied. We successfully fabricated diopside nano–sized powders from naturally occurring diopside single crystal (Ca0.92Na0.07Mn0.01Mg0.93Fe0.01Al0.06Si2O6). Diopside polycrystalline is sintered from powders with an average particle size of <100 nm under argon flow at temperatures ranging from 1130–1280 °C for 0.5–20 h. The average grain size increased with increasing sintering time and sintering temperature while porosity remained nearly constant value of 3–4 vol%. The experimental data of grain growth at 1180 °C can be fit for the following equation G3 − G03 = kt, where G is the grain size after time t, G0 is the grain size at t = 0, and k is a rate constant.