Cold sintering is an unusually low-temperature process that uses a transient transport phase, which is most often liquid, and an applied uniaxial force to assist in densification of a powder compact. By using this approach, many ceramic powders can be transformed to high-density monoliths at temperatures far below the melting point. In this article, we present a summary of cold sintering accomplishments and the current working models that describe the operative mechanisms in the context of other strategies for low-temperature ceramic densification. Current observations in several systems suggest a multiple-stage densification process that bears similarity to models that describe liquid phase sintering. We find that grain growth trends are consistent with classical behavior, but with activation energy values that are lower than observed for thermally driven processes. Densification behavior in these low-temperature systems is rich, and there is much to be investigated regarding mass transport within and across the liquid-solid interfaces that populate these ceramics during densification. Irrespective of mechanisms, these low temperatures create a new opportunity spectrum to design grain boundaries and create new types of nanocomposites among material combinations that previously had incompatible processing windows. Future directions are discussed in terms of both the fundamental science and engineering of cold sintering.

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Zinc oxide densification mechanisms occurring during the cold sintering process (CSP) are examined by investigating specifically the effects of ion concentration in solution, temperature, pressure, and die sealing. The experiments suggest that mass transport through solution is a primary densification mechanism and that either a pre-loaded solution or grain dissolution can supply migrating ions. Additionally, results indicate cold sintering zinc oxide requires a critical pressure value, above which densification is relatively pressure independent under the majority of process conditions. This critical pressure is related to thermal expansion of the liquid and determines the uniaxial pressure threshold for densification. The data supports a three-stage interpretation of cold sintering, which includes quick compaction, grain rearrangement, and dissolution-reprecipitation events. Further, it is observed that under the lowest temperature conditions a net decrease in particle size can occur during the cold sintering process.