Plasma-chemical synthesis of nanostructured anorthite for ceramics production
摘要
The paper studies the possibility of synthesizing anorthite ceramics (CaAl2Si2O8) from the powder obtained by plasma melting of a stoichiometric mixture composition. It is shown that the best temperature range for sintering is 1100 to 1200 °C, which provides the ceramics density of 2650 to 2700 kg/m3 (close to theoretical value) at a < 5% porosity. At 1300 °C sintering, the density decreases due to anorthite crystallization and mullite formation that are accompanied by the porosity growth up to 8% and the nanostructure formation in pores. Plasma synthesis assists in the production of the uniform amorphous powder that sinters at temperatures by 100–200 °C lower than in conventional techniques. The material demonstrates its potential in applications in heat-resistant ceramics, electrical insulators and co-fired ceramics due to the low thermal expansion coefficient and high chemical stability.