Fast fabrication of high quality Li2TiO3–Li4SiO4 biphasic ceramic pebbles by microwave sintering: In comparison with conventional sintering

Abstract

Abstract A comparative study between the microwave and conventional sintering of Li2TiO3–Li4SiO4 biphasic ceramic pebbles was systematically performed. Comparing to samples sintered by conventional method, the microwave sintered samples exhibited homogeneous microstructure with uniform grain size distribution. In addition, the microwave sintered samples showed higher relative density (86.0% T.D.) and crush load (22.7\u202fN). The results indicated that the microwave sintering process is a prospective method for fabricating Li2TiO3–Li4SiO4 biphasic ceramic pebbles with excellent mechanical performance as tritium breeder materials.