Fine-structured oxide ceramics from a novel replication method

Fine-structured oxide ceramics sintered bodies with sub-micrometer scales were fabricated by a replication method from mixed slurry of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and nanosized ceramic particles in water. By using this replication method and burn-out at various sintering temperatures, fine-structured line and space patterns with sizes as small as 300 nm were fabricated on surfaces of TiO2 and ZnO. The mechanism of pattern deformation was investigated and a general expression to predict the minimum pattern size was proposed based on the relationship between pattern size and grain size. The results demonstrated the feasibility of using this simple method to produce sintered oxide ceramic materials with various compositions and structures.