Highly Porous Ceramic Material and Method of using and Forming the Same

The present invention generally relates to porous ceramic material and to methods of making and using the material. More particularly, the invention relates to methods of forming ceramic materials by depositing material, using atomic layer deposition, onto a sacrificial substrate and to ceramic materials having controlled wall thickness, relatively large pores, and high surface area by weight

Flash sintering of zirconia/alumina powders

Yttria-stabilized cubic zirconia (YSZ) is the most-common electrolyte material for solid oxide fuel cells due to its reasonable oxygen-ion conductivity and chemical stability. To achieve suitable ionic conductivities, YSZ ceramics must be near theoretical density, requiring sintering temperatures around 1450°C. In 2011, it was demonstrated that flash sintering densifies YSZ in a few seconds at 750°C.1 During flash sintering, an electric field is applied across the sample and at a certain threshold temperature, the sample conductivity and power dissipation rapidly increase causing densification. Since densification occurs in just a few seconds, grain growth can be difficult to control. During conventional sintering of YSZ ceramics, researchers have demonstrated that the addition of a small quantity of aluminum oxide (Al2O3) pins grain boundaries, reducing YSZ grain size.2 However, the effect of small quantities of Al2O3 addition on the grain growth of flash sintered YSZ has not been studied. Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

EXPERIMENTS AND MODELLING OF MICRO-JET ASSISTED FLUIDIZATION OF NANOPARTICLES

The fluidization of nanoparticle agglomerates can be largely improved by using downward pointing micronozzles, creating a high-velocity jet, as experimentally shown. By discrete particle simulations – treating the agglomerates as single particles – we show that the main reason is probably the reduction of the agglomerate size by agglomerate-agglomerate collisions

Experiments and Modelling of Micro-Jet Assisted Fluidization of Nanopowder

The fluidization of nanoparticle agglomerates can be largely improved by using downward pointing micronozzles, creating a high-velocity jet, as experimentally shown. By discrete particle simulations – treating the agglomerates as single particles – we show that the microjet strongly reduces the amount of gas in voids

Fluidized Bed Polymer Particle ALD Process for Producing HDPE/Alumina Nanocomposites

Micron-sized High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) particles were coated with ultrathin alumina (Al2O3) films in a Fluidized Bed Reactor (FBR) by Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) at 77 ºC. Al2O3 films on the HDPE particles were confirmed by different methods. These particles were extruded conventionally with the ceramic shells mixing intimately in the polymer matrix. The successful dispersion of the Al2O3 shells in the polymer matrix following extrusion was confirmed using cross sectional Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM)

Solar Thermal Processing to Disinfect Human Waste

Almost half of the world&rsquo;s population is living without access to sanitation services that are safe, reliable, and minimize public health risk of human waste exposure. Modern flush-based sanitation networks are unsustainable: substantial resources, namely water and fuel, are required to bring human waste to centralized treatment facilities. Moving toward sustainable sanitation requires the implementation of innovative renewable energy technologies for stabilization and disinfection of waste, at the local or household scale, where minimal inputs of water, electricity or chemicals are required. A novel solar thermal disinfection toilet prototype has been constructed and is assessed for overall solar to receiver efficiency in treating waste without electrical, chemical, or water inputs from municipal supply. The measured solar to receiver efficiency is 28%, incorporating the capturing and concentration of sunlight and transmission of the energy to the receiver. For a typical sunny day, the current system can achieve thermal treatment of 0.8 kg human waste in roughly 100 min. The novel toilet is available for any location in the world with sufficient sunlight and irradiance data, and is scalable by adding solar collectors for sizes from single dwellings to communities. &nbsp;</p