Microwave synthesis and sintering of forsterite nanopowder produced by high energy ball milling

This paper reports the development of a new process for the synthesis and sintering of forsterite nanopowder via microwave-assisted high energy ball milling of a powder mixture containing silica gel and Mg(OH)2. X-ray diffraction (XRD), FTIR spectrometer, BET, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques were utilized to characterize the as-milled and annealed samples. X-ray diffraction results showed that highly ordered forsterite can be obtained through the calcination of the as-milled powder over 900 °C. In addition, SEM and TEM observations of the synthesized powders showed that the particle size of the powder lies in the nanometer range, also being compared with the BET results (about 45 to 64.5 nm). Microwave sintering (MS) of the forsterite nanopowder produced with high energy ball milling and subsequent microwave heating resulted in remarkable enhancement in densification in comparison with conventional sintering (CS) at lower temperatures.