Microwave sintering of SnO₂/ZnO ceramics: Effects of SiC susceptor

Abstract

International audienceThis study investigates the effect of a SiC susceptor on the microwave (MW) heating of pure SnO2, pure ZnO and their composites in different weight ratios (S80-Z20, S50-Z50, S20-Z80). All samples were sintered with and without a SiC susceptor in a multimode MW cavity, and additional MW heating experiments were conducted in a single-mode cavity to observe the MW/material interactions of the pure binary oxides. The role of the SiC susceptor—commonly used to enhance MW absorption—was the key focus. Power curves are discussed in detail since they show the changes in material properties at certain temperatures. Our results show that SnO2 and ZnO ceramics can be heated even without a susceptor, with pure SnO2 initiating heating faster than ZnO and composites exhibiting intermediate behavior. The microstructure, linear shrinkage, bulk density, porosity, and phase composition were characterized for all prepared samples under both sintering conditions