TY  - JOUR
ID  - discovery1508206
N2  - We study the microstructure of a granular amorphous silica ceramic material synthesized by spark plasma sintering. Using monodisperse spherical silica particles as precursor, spark plasma sintering yields a dense granular material with distinct granule boundaries. We use selective etching to obtain nanoscopic pores along the granule borders. We interrogate this highly interesting material structure by combining scanning electron microscopy, X-ray computed nanotomography and simulations based on random close packed spherical particles. We determine the degree of anisotropy caused by the uni-axial force applied during sintering, and our analysis shows that our synthesis method provides a means to avoid significant granule growth and to fabricate a material with well-controlled microstructure.
KW  - Microstructure
KW  -  X-ray computed tomography
KW  -  nanoporous
KW  -  scanning electron microscopy
KW  -  sintering
TI  - Microstructure of a granular amorphous silica ceramic synthesized by spark plasma sintering
EP  - 303
AV  - public
Y1  - 2016/12//
SN  - 1365-2818
UR  - http://doi.org/10.1111/jmi.12442
JF  - Journal of Microscopy
A1  - Röding, M
A1  - Del Castillo, LA
A1  - Nydén, M
A1  - Follink, B
VL  - 264
SP  - 298
N1  - © 2016 The Authors Journal of Microscopy © 2016 Royal Microscopical Society. This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Röding, M; Del Castillo, LA; Nydén, M; Follink, B; (2016) Microstructure of a granular amorphous silica ceramic synthesized by spark plasma sintering. Journal of Microscopy , 264 (3) pp. 298-303. 10.1111/jmi.12442, which has been published in final form at http://doi.org/10.1111/jmi.12442. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.
IS  - 3
ER  -