Comparison of the microwave and conventional sintering of Li2TiO3 ceramic pebbles

Microwave sintering was employed in the fabrication of Li2TiO3 ceramic pebbles using the powders synthesized via hydrothermal method. The as-prepared Li2TiO3 powders exhibited high reactivity with an average particle size as small as 40 nm. A comparative study between the microwave and conventional sintering behavior of Li2TiO3 pebbles was systematically investigated. The microstructure and density analyses showed that the presence of microwaves accelerated the densification and grain growth, thus decreasing the sintering temperature. Besides, an accelerated phase transformation from α-Li2TiO3 to β-Li2TiO3 was observed in microwave processing. The Li2TiO3 ceramic pebbles obtained by microwave sintering exhibited high density, good mechanical property and uniform microstructure, which might hold good potential as tritium breeding materials for blankets. The results showed that the microwave sintering was a promising process for the fabrication of Li2TiO3 pebbles.