We present in this manuscript that enhanced thermoelectric performance can be achieved in polycrystalline SnSe prepared by hydrothermal reaction and spark plasma sintering (SPS). X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns revealed strong orientation along the [l 0 0] direction in bulk samples, which was further confirmed by microstructural observation through transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and fi...

The low hardness and strength of aluminum, which limits its use in many industrial applications, could be increased through the addition of nanoparticles. However, the appropriate processing method and parameters should be carefully selected in order to achieve the desired improvement in properties. In this work, aluminum was reinforced with low weight fraction (1 wt.%) of SiC nanoparticles and...

Finite element simulations have been conducted to determine the temperature distribution (both in radial and axial direction), heat and electric flux-field in the powder compact/die/punch assembly during the spark plasma sintering (SPS) process. A thermal–electrical coupled model with temperature dependent thermal and electrical properties is implemented. The simulation studies were conducted u...

High density ceramics of the system Bi1-xLaxFeO3, 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.15, have been prepared starting from nanoparticles obtained by mechanosynthesis. The ceramics have been sintered conventionally at 850oC and by spark plasma sintering (SPS). Sintering conditions have been optimized to obtain single phase ceramics, and the microstructure of the ceramics has been compared. Ceramics prepared conventionall...

Microstructure-controlled and fully-dense ZrB2 HfB2 composites were elaborated by Spark Plasma Sintering with two different amounts of SiC (20 30 vol%) added to improve their oxidation resistance using optimized sintering parameters. Oxidation several samples in air plasma conditions, at 1000 Pa total pressure from 1800 K up 2600 K, was carried out. The mass variation during duration 300 s on a...