Abrupt high grain growth in hydroxyapatite during flash sintering

Abstract

The electric flash generated by an electric field aided the sintering of hydroxyapatite (HA) in relatively less time and at lower furnace temperatures than the conventional sintering method. The current work has reported a comparative study to explain thermodynamically the effects of the increasing DC electric field strength at 1000°C and 1100°C sintering furnace temperatures during flash sintering in terms of the grain growth and densification of the HA in air. The abrupt change in current density and conductivity of HA during the flash peak correlates the high grain growth and rapid densification with increasing electric field strength. The increased electric field strength reduced the power dissipation from the HA. The abrupt high-rise grain growth phenomenon during flash sintering might consist of the thermal effect and enhancement in ionic conductivity due to the application of an electric field.