ELECTRIC FIELD ENHANCED PROCESSING OF ADVANCED MATERIALS II: COMPLEXITIES AND OPPORTUNITIES

Memo

Field assisted processing of materials began with microwave sintering, then progressed to spark-plasma-sintering (SPS), and more recently to flash-sintering, and superplastic softening of ceramics under electric field. Hybrid methods such as flash-SPS have come to the fore. The scope of field assisted processing is expanding rapidly into the creation of materials that are “far from equilibrium”. The materials processed in this way are manifesting properties that lie beyond those obtained from conventional methods. Examples are new phases of spinel and increased ionic conductivity of electrolytes for solid oxide fuel cells. A third important development is the deployment of in-situ characterization of the events in live experiments at high energy X-ray synchrotrons at Argonne and Brookhaven National Laboratory. These results are unraveling the atomistic events that are providing scientific insights into the unusual effects of electric fields on defect generation, diffusion kinetics, and phase transformations at the time scale of about one second. Other in-situ methods such as the measurements of mixed ionic and electrical conductivities, and optical characterization are rapidly transforming this field from one that was mainly focused on techniques to one that is creating a new field of science in sintering and defect physics.  Ab-initio and Molecular Dynamics simulations are providing substance to the concepts and measurements for fundamental research in this field. The thrust and the scope of this meeting is to bring together both experienced and budding scientists to present and discuss their latest results, to “see the future” and develop collaborations. The collaborations are critical since the field is highly interdisciplinary spanning materials science, ceramic science, physics, electrochemistry, and computer science. The meeting comes at a time of rising interest and curiosity in the novel effects of electrical fields on processing and properties of advanced materials.