This work was supported by the Wake Forest Chemistry Department and the Wake Forest Center for Energy, Environment, and Sustainability (CEES). We thank Charles Mooney and the Analytical Instrumentation Facility of the North Carolina State University for assistance with SEM imaging.

1. Preparing Xerogel Pellets
<ol>
	<li>Gel Synthesis
	<ol>
		<li>Add a 25 mm magnetic stir bar and 113 mL of deionized water to a 500 mL beaker. Magnetically stir the deionized water at the highest rate that does not form a vortex.</li>
		<li>Slowly add 13.05 g (0.056 mol) of anhydrous zirconium chloride to the deionized water in small increments. After all of the anhydrous zirconium chloride has dissolved, add 53.29 g (0.296 mol) of glucose to the solution.</li>
		<li>After all of the glucose has dissolved in the solution, add 3.73 g (0.01 mol) of yttrium nitrate hexahydrate to the solution. Increase the rate of magnetic stirring to ~700 rpm and wait for all of the yttrium nitrate hexahydrate to dissolve in solution.</li>
		<li>Add 42 mL of propylene oxide to the solution. Continue stirring at ~700 rpm for the propylene oxide to mix with the aqueous solution. Once the propylene oxide is mixed with the aqueous solution (~10 s), decrease the magnetic stirring to ~150 rpm.</li>
		<li>Continue stirring until the magnetic stir bar has stopped moving due to formation of the gel. The gel typically forms within 3 min. 
		NOTES: Adding anhydrous zirconium chloride to deionized water is a highly exothermic reaction and the anhydrous zirconium chloride will plume if it is added too quickly. 
		The formulation provided in Section 1.1. corresponds to a glucose to total metals (zirconium + yttrium) molar ratio of 4.5:1. The representative results section includes data for glucose to total metals molar ratios of 0:1, 2.25:1, and 4.5:1. The amount of glucose in the formulation is only limited by the solubility of glucose in the solution. For reference, the maximum solubility of glucose in water at 20 &#176;C is 47.8 wt%.15</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Aging and Washing the Gel
	<ol>
		<li>Tightly cover the beaker containing the gel with Parafilm and let it age for 24 h by leaving the covered beaker at room temperature.</li>
		<li>Remove the cover from the beaker and decant the liquid on top of the gel.</li>
		<li>Add 300 mL of absolute ethanol to the beaker containing the gel, tightly cover the beaker with Parafilm, and leave the covered beaker at room temperature for 24 h.</li>
		<li>Repeat step 1.2.3 two more times for a total of three ethanol washings over a total period of 72 h.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Drying the Gel into a Xerogel
	<ol>
		<li>Remove the gel from the beaker and place it in a 2 L porcelain evaporating dish (24 cm outside top diameter) using a laboratory spatula.</li>
		<li>Break the gel into approximately 1 cm x 1 cm pieces with a spatula and spread out the pieces over the surface of the evaporating dish.</li>
		<li>Let the gel pieces dry under ambient conditions for one week or until the gel is dry. The gel is considered dry when it can be ground into a fine powder.</li>
		<li>Grind all of the xerogel into a fine powder with a mortar and pestle. 
		NOTE: Once the gel is dry, it is considered a xerogel because it was dried under ambient conditions.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Pressing the Xerogel into a Pellet
	<ol>
		<li>Place 1 g of xerogel powder into a cylindrical pellet press die with a diameter of 13 mm.</li>
		<li>Using a hydraulic press, apply 22 kN of force for 90 s to press the xerogel gel into a pellet.</li>
		<li>Slowly release the force applied by the press. Slowly eject the pellet out of the pellet die and then carefully remove the pellet.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
</ol>
2. Sintering the Xerogel Pellet in an Inert Atmosphere
<ol>
	<li>Place the xerogel pellet onto an alumina or yttria-stabilized zirconia plate and load the plate into the center of a tube furnace.</li>
	<li>Flow argon at a rate of one third the volume of the working tube per minute. This corresponds to an argon flow rate of 750 mL&#183;min-1 for the working tube used in this work. Vent the gas outlet to a fume hood.</li>
	<li>Flow argon for at least 15 min before starting to heat the tube furnace.</li>
	<li>While continuously flowing argon at a constant rate, program the tube furnace temperature controller to the following heating schedule:
	<ol>
		<li>Hold at room temperature for 15 min.</li>
		<li>Heat to 850 &#176;C at a ramp rate of 5 &#176;C&#183;min-1.</li>
		<li>Heat to desired sintering temperature at a ramp rate of 2 &#176;C&#183;min-1.</li>
		<li>Hold at the desired sintering temperature for 2 h.</li>
		<li>Cool to 850 &#176;C at a ramp rate of 2 &#176;C&#183;min-1.</li>
		<li>Cool to room temperature at a ramp rate of 5 &#176;C&#183;min-1.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Start the program and double-check that the tube furnace is heating up following the schedule provided in section 2.3.</li>
	<li>Remove pellet from the tube furnace after the heating program has completed.</li>
</ol>
3. Determining Carbon Template Concentration
<ol>
	<li>Cut a ~50 mg piece out of the sintered xerogel pellet with a utility knife and grind it into a fine powder with an agate mortar and pestle.</li>
	<li>Place ~50 mg of the fine powder into an alumina sample cup for thermogravimetric analysis.</li>
	<li>Using a thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA), heat the sample at a rate of 10 &#176;C&#183;min-1 from ambient temperature to 1,200 &#176;C while flowing air over the sample at a rate of 100 mL&#183;min-1.</li>
	<li>Calculate the percent change in weight that occurs between ~350 &#176;C and ~700 &#176;C. This weight percent corresponds to the total carbon content in the sample. 
	NOTE: If a weight increase occurs in the 350 &#176;C to 700 &#176;C range, a carbide phase has formed and the calculation of carbon content is more complex. For this case, please refer to calculations described in the literature.14 Carbon elemental analysis has been used to confirm that carbon content can be calculated from TGA measurements.</li>
</ol>
4. Preparing High Surface Area YSZ Scaffold by Carbon Template Removal
<ol>
	<li>Place the sintered xerogel pellet in an alumina crucible.</li>
	<li>Place the crucible into a box furnace at 700 &#176;C for 2 h.</li>
	<li>Carefully remove the hot crucible from the box furnace with stainless steel crucible tongs and allow it to cool to room temperature for one hour before removing the porous, white YSZ scaffold.</li>
</ol>

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D. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=A+highly+conductive+oxide+anode+for+solid+oxide+fuel+cells.">A highly conductive oxide anode for solid oxide fuel cells.</a> Electrochem. Solid-State Lett. 14 (1), B1-B5 (2011).</li><li>Vo, N. M., Gross, M. D. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=The+effect+of+vanadium+deficiency+on+the+stability+of+Pd+and+Pt+catalysts+in+lanthanum+strontium+vanadate+solid+oxide+fuel+cell+anodes.">The effect of vanadium deficiency on the stability of Pd and Pt catalysts in lanthanum strontium vanadate solid oxide fuel cell anodes.</a> J. Electrochem. Soc. 159 (5), B641-B646 (2012).</li><li>Sholklapper, T. Z., Jacobson, C. P., Visco, S. J., De Jonghe, L. 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We have nothing to disclose.

With this in situ carbon templating approach, one can create and preserve nanomorphology in mixed-metal-oxides at traditional ceramic scaffold sintering temperatures. The resulting surface areas are up to 80 times higher than traditionally sintered scaffolds and up to 4 times higher than scaffolds fabricated by complex deposition techniques.14 The propylene oxide-glucose gel system is highly flexible for tuning the concentration of the carbon template, allowing one to systematically contr...

The solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) holds great promise as an alternative energy conversion technology for the efficient generation of clean electrical power.1 Considerable progress has been made in the research and development of this technology; however, improvements in electrode performance are still needed to achieve reliable commercialization. The electrode often comprises a porous ceramic scaffold with electrocatalytic particles decorated on the scaffold surface. A large body of research has focused on increasing the surface area of the electrocatalytic particles to increase performance,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 but there is very little research on increasing the scaffold surface area. Increasing the scaffold surface area is challenging because they are sintered at high temperatures, 1,100 &#176;C to 1,500 &#176;C.
Scaffolds processed by traditional sintering typically have a specific surface area of 0.1-1 m2&#183;g-1.8,9,10,11 There are a few reports on increasing the scaffold surface area. In one case, the surface area of a traditionally sintered scaffold was enhanced by dissolution and precipitation of the scaffold surface using hydrofluoric acid, achieving a specific surface area of 2 m2&#183;g-1.12 In another, high temperatures were avoided altogether by using pulsed laser deposition, achieving a specific surface area of 20 m2&#183;g-1.13 The rationale behind the development of our technique was to create a low cost fabrication process that provides unprecedented scaffold surface areas and uses traditional sintering temperatures so that the process can be adopted easily. With the technique reported here, scaffold surface areas up to 80 m2&#183;g-1 have been demonstrated while being processed at traditional sintering temperatures.14
Our research is primarily motivated by SOFC electrode engineering, but the technique is more broadly applicable to other fields and applications. Generally, the in situ carbon templating method is a flexible approach that can produce nanostructured, high surface area mixed-metal ceramic materials in the powder or porous scaffold form. It is flexible in that the mixed-metal ceramic composition, surface area, porosity, and pore size can all be tuned systematically. High temperatures are often needed to form the desired phase in mixed-metal ceramics, and this approach preserves ceramic nanomorphology while allowing one to choose essentially any processing temperature.
This method involves the synthesis of a hybrid inorganic-organic propylene-oxide-based gel, with a well define stoichiometry of metal ions and ratio of inorganic to organic content. The gel is dried under ambient conditions to form a xerogel. The xerogel is sintered in an argon atmosphere at the desired temperature. Upon heating, the organic component decomposes leaving behind a carbon template in situ, which remains for the duration of sintering. The carbon template is subsequently removed by low temperature oxidation in air, resulting in a nanostructured, high surface area ceramic.

<table><tbody><tr><td>Zirconium(IV) chloride, 99.5+%</td><td>Alfa Aesar</td><td>12104</td><td>Air sensitive</td></tr><tr><td>Yttium(III) nitrate hexadydrate, 99.9%</td><td>Alfa Aesar</td><td>12898</td><td>Oxidizer</td></tr><tr><td>D+ Glucose Anhydrous, &amp;ge;99.5%</td><td>US Biological Life Sciences</td><td>G3050</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>(&amp;plusmn;)-Propylene Oxide, &amp;ge;99%</td><td>Sigma Aldrich</td><td>110205</td><td>Extremely flammable</td></tr><tr><td>Ethanol 200 Proof</td><td>Decon Laboratories, Inc.</td><td>2716GEA</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Argon, 99.997%</td><td>Airgas</td><td>AR 300</td><td>Industrial grade</td></tr></tbody></table>

high temperature fabrication of nanostructured yttria-stabilized-zirconia (ysz) scaffolds by in situ carbon templating xerogels

We demonstrate a method for the high temperature fabrication of porous, nanostructured yttria-stabilized-zirconia (YSZ, 8 mol% yttria - 92 mol% zirconia) scaffolds with tunable specific surface areas up to 80 m2&#183;g-1. An aqueous solution of a zirconium salt, yttrium salt, and glucose is mixed with propylene oxide (PO) to form a gel. The gel is dried under ambient conditions to form a xerogel. The xerogel is pressed into pellets and then sintered in an argon atmosphere. During sintering, a YSZ ceramic phase forms and the organic components decompose, leaving behind amorphous carbon. The carbon formed in situ serves as a hard template, preserving a high surface area YSZ nanomorphology at sintering temperature. The carbon is subsequently removed by oxidation in air at low temperature, resulting in a porous, nanostructured YSZ scaffold. The concentration of the carbon template and the final scaffold surface area can be systematically tuned by varying the glucose concentration in the gel synthesis. The carbon template concentration was quantified using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), the surface area and pore size distribution was determined by physical adsorption measurements, and the morphology was characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Phase purity and crystallite size was determined using X-ray diffraction (XRD). This fabrication approach provides a novel, flexible platform for realizing unprecedented scaffold surface areas and nanomorphologies for ceramic-based electrochemical energy conversion applications, e.g. solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) electrodes.

Phase purity was confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) as previously reported by Cottam et al.14 YSZ scaffold specific surface area as a function of carbon template concentration is shown in Figure 1. The concentration is shown as the volume percent of total solids in the sintered xerogel pellet. The carbon template concentration systematically increases with increasing glucose concentration in the gel formulation. As shown in Figur...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about High Temperature Fabrication of Nanostructured Yttria-Stabilized-Zirconia YSZ Scaffolds by In Situ Carbon Templating Xerogels at JoVE.com

High Temperature Fabrication of Nanostructured Yttria-Stabilized-Zirconia YSZ Scaffolds by In Situ Carbon Templating Xerogels

A protocol for fabricating porous, nanostructured yttria-stabilized-zirconia (YSZ) scaffolds at temperatures between 1,000 &#176;C and 1,400 &#176;C is presented.

High Temperature Fabrication of Nanostructured Yttria-Stabilized-Zirconia (YSZ) Scaffolds by In Situ Carbon Templating Xerogels

We demonstrate a method for the high temperature fabrication of porous, nanostructured yttria-stabilized-zirconia (YSZ, 8 mol% yttria - 92 mol% zirconia) ...

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10.5K Views.  Wake Forest University. A protocol for fabricating porous, nanostructured yttria-stabilized-zirconia (YSZ) scaffolds at temperatures between 1,000 °C and 1,400 °C is presented.

Video: High Temperature Fabrication of Nanostructured Yttria-Stabilized-Zirconia YSZ Scaffolds by In Situ Carbon Templating Xerogels

Fabrication, Densification, and Replica Molding of 3D Carbon Nanotube Microstructures

The introduction of new materials and processes to microfabrication has, in large part, enabled many important advances in microsystems, lab-on-a-chip devices, and their applications. In particular, capabilities for cost-effective fabrication of polymer microstructures were transformed by the advent of soft lithography and other micromolding techniques 1, 2, and this led a revolution in applications of microfabrication to biomedical engineering and biology. Nevertheless, it remains challenging to fabricate microstructures with well-defined nanoscale surface textures, and to fabricate arbitrary 3D shapes at the micro-scale. Robustness of master molds and maintenance of shape integrity is especially important to achieve high fidelity replication of complex structures and preserving their nanoscale surface texture. The combination of hierarchical textures, and heterogeneous shapes, is a profound challenge to existing microfabrication methods that largely rely upon top-down etching using fixed mask templates. On the other hand, the bottom-up synthesis of nanostructures such as nanotubes and nanowires can offer new capabilities to microfabrication, in particular by taking advantage of the collective self-organization of nanostructures, and local control of their growth behavior with respect to microfabricated patterns. 
Our goal is to introduce vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (CNTs), which we refer to as CNT "forests", as a new microfabrication material. We present details of a suite of related methods recently developed by our group: fabrication of CNT forest microstructures by thermal CVD from lithographically patterned catalyst thin films; self-directed elastocapillary densification of CNT microstructures; and replica molding of polymer microstructures using CNT composite master molds. In particular, our work shows that self-directed capillary densification ("capillary forming"), which is performed by condensation of a solvent onto the substrate with CNT microstructures, significantly increases the packing density of CNTs. This process enables directed transformation of vertical CNT microstructures into straight, inclined, and twisted shapes, which have robust mechanical properties exceeding those of typical microfabrication polymers. This in turn enables formation of nanocomposite CNT master molds by capillary-driven infiltration of polymers. The replica structures exhibit the anisotropic nanoscale texture of the aligned CNTs, and can have walls with sub-micron thickness and aspect ratios exceeding 50:1. Integration of CNT microstructures in fabrication offers further opportunity to exploit the electrical and thermal properties of CNTs, and diverse capabilities for chemical and biochemical functionalization 3.

We present methods for fabrication of patterned microstructures of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (CNTs), and their use as master molds for production of polymer microstructures with organized nanoscale surface texture. The CNT forests are densified by condensation of solvent onto the substrate, which significantly increases their packing density and enables self-directed formation of 3D shapes.

The introduction of new materials and processes to microfabrication has, in large part, enabled many important advances in microsystems, lab-on-a-chip ...

Preparation and Reactivity of Gasless Nanostructured Energetic Materials

High-Energy Ball Milling (HEBM) is a ball milling process where a powder mixture placed in the ball mill is subjected to high-energy collisions from the balls. Among other applications, it is a versatile technique that allows for effective preparation of gasless reactive nanostructured materials with high energy density per volume (Ni+Al, Ta+C, Ti+C). The structural transformations of reactive media, which take place during HEBM, define the reaction mechanism in the produced energetic&#160;composites. Varying the processing conditions permits fine tuning of the milling-induced microstructures of the fabricated composite particles. In turn, the reactivity, i.e., self-ignition temperature, ignition delay time, as well as reaction kinetics, of high energy density materials depends on its microstructure. Analysis of the milling-induced microstructures suggests that the formation of fresh oxygen-free intimate high surface area contacts between the reagents is responsible for the enhancement of their reactivity. This manifests itself in a reduction of ignition temperature and delay time, an increased rate of chemical reaction, and an overall decrease of the effective activation energy of the reaction. The protocol provides a detailed description for the preparation of reactive nanocomposites with tailored microstructure using short-term HEBM method. It also describes a high-speed thermal imaging technique to determine the ignition/combustion characteristics of the energetic materials. The protocol can be adapted to preparation and characterization of a variety of nanostructured energetic composites.

This protocol describes the preparation of gasless nanostructured energetic materials (Ni+Al, Ta+C, Ti+C) using the short-term high-energy ball milling (HEBM) technique. It also describes a high-speed thermal imaging method to study the reactivity of mechanically fabricated nanocomposites. These protocols can be extended to other reactive nanostructured energetic materials.

High-Energy Ball Milling (HEBM) is a ball milling process where a powder mixture placed in the ball mill is subjected to high-energy collisions from the ...

Formation of Thick Dense Yttrium Iron Garnet Films Using Aerosol Deposition

Aerosol deposition (AD) is a thick-film deposition process that can produce layers up to several hundred micrometers thick with densities greater than 95% of the bulk. The primary advantage of AD is that the deposition takes place entirely at ambient temperature; thereby enabling film growth in material systems with disparate melting temperatures. This report describes in detail the processing steps for preparing the powder and for performing AD using the custom-built system. Representative characterization results are presented from scanning electron microscopy, profilometry, and ferromagnetic resonance for films grown in this system. As a representative overview of the capabilities of the system, focus is given to a sample produced following the described protocol and system setup. Results indicate that this system can successfully deposit 11 &#181;m thick yttrium iron garnet films that are &#160;&#62; 90% of the bulk density during a single 5 min deposition run. A discussion of methods to afford better control of the aerosol and particle selection for improved thickness and roughness variations in the film is provided.

This report describes the use of a custom-built system to perform aerosol deposition of thick films of yttrium iron garnet onto sapphire substrates at RT. The deposited films are characterized using scanning electron microscopy, profilometry, and ferromagnetic resonance to give a representative overview of the capabilities of the technique.

Aerosol deposition (AD) is a thick-film deposition process that can produce layers up to several hundred micrometers thick with densities greater than 95% ...

Aerosol-assisted Chemical Vapor Deposition of Metal Oxide Structures: Zinc Oxide Rods

Whilst columnar zinc oxide (ZnO) structures in the form of rods or wires have been synthesized previously by different liquid- or vapor-phase routes, their high cost production and/or incompatibility with microfabrication technologies, due to the use of pre-deposited catalyst-seeds and/or high processing temperatures exceeding 900 &#176;C, represent a drawback for a widespread use of these methods. Here, however, we report the synthesis of ZnO rods via a non-catalyzed vapor-solid mechanism enabled by using an aerosol-assisted chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method at 400 &#176;C with zinc chloride (ZnCl2) as the precursor and ethanol as the carrier solvent. This method provides both single-step formation of ZnO rods and the possibility of their direct integration with various substrate types, including silicon, silicon-based micromachined platforms, quartz, or high heat resistant polymers. This potentially facilitates the use of this method at a large-scale, due to its compatibility with state-of-the-art microfabrication processes for device manufacture. This report also describes the properties of these structures (e.g., morphology, crystalline phase, optical band gap, chemical composition, electrical resistance) and validates its gas sensing functionality towards carbon monoxide.

Columnar zinc oxide structures in the form of rods are synthesized via aerosol-assisted chemical vapor deposition without the use of pre-deposited catalyst-seed particles. This method is scalable and compatible with various substrates based on either silicon, quartz or polymers.

Whilst columnar zinc oxide (ZnO) structures in the form of rods or wires have been synthesized previously by different liquid- or vapor-phase routes, ...

Chemistry

Chemical Synthesis of Porous Barium Titanate Thin Film and Thermal Stabilization of Ferroelectric Phase by Porosity-Induced Strain

Barium titanate (BaTiO3, hereafter BT) is an established ferroelectric material first discovered in the 1940s and still widely used because of its well-balanced ferroelectricity, piezoelectricity, and dielectric constant. In addition, BT does not contain any toxic elements. Therefore, it is considered to be an eco-friendly material, which has attracted considerable interest as a replacement for lead zirconate titanate (PZT). However, bulk BT loses its ferroelectricity at approximately 130 &#176;C, thus, it cannot be used at high temperatures. Because of the growing demand for high-temperature ferroelectric materials, it is important to enhance the thermal stability of ferroelectricity in BT. In previous studies, strain originating from the lattice mismatch at hetero-interfaces has been used. However, the sample preparation in this approach requires complicated and expensive physical processes, which are undesirable for practical applications.
In this study, we propose a chemical synthesis of a porous material as an alternative means of introducing strain. We synthesized a porous BT thin film using a surfactant-assisted sol-gel method, in which self-assembled amphipathic surfactant micelles were used as an organic template. Through a series of studies, we clarified that the introduction of pores had a similar effect on distorting the BT crystal lattice, to that of a hetero-interface, leading to the enhancement and stabilization of ferroelectricity. Owing to its simplicity and cost effectiveness, this fabrication process has considerable advantages over conventional methods.

Here, we present a protocol for the synthesis of porous barium titanate (BaTiO3) thin film by a surfactant-assisted sol-gel method, in which self-assembled amphipathic surfactant micelles are used as an organic template.

Barium titanate (BaTiO3, hereafter BT) is an established ferroelectric material first discovered in the 1940s and still widely used because of its ...

Multi-material Ceramic-Based Components &#8211; Additive Manufacturing of Black-and-white Zirconia Components by Thermoplastic 3D-Printing (CerAM - T3DP)

To combine the benefits of Additive Manufacturing (AM) with the benefits of Functionally Graded Materials (FGM) to ceramic-based 4D components (three dimensions for the geometry and one degree of freedom concerning the material properties at each position) the Thermoplastic 3D-Printing (CerAM -&#160;T3DP) was developed. It is a direct AM technology which allows the AM of multi-material components. To demonstrate the advantages of this technology black-and-white zirconia components were additively manufactured and co-sintered defect-free.
Two different pairs of black and white zirconia powders were used to prepare different thermoplastic suspensions. Appropriate dispensing parameters were investigated to manufacture single-material test components and adjusted for the additive manufacturing of multi-color zirconia components.

Here we describe a protocol for additively manufacturing black-and-white zirconia components by Thermoplastic 3D-Printing (CerAM -&#160;T3DP) and co-sintering defect-free.

To combine the benefits of Additive Manufacturing (AM) with the benefits of Functionally Graded Materials (FGM) to ceramic-based 4D components (three ...

Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) of Metal-Ceramic Components

Technical ceramics are widely used for industrial and research applications, as well as for consumer goods. Today, the demand for complex geometries with diverse customization options and favorable production methods is increasing continuously. With fused filament fabrication (FFF), it is possible to produce large and complex components quickly with high material efficiency. In FFF, a continuous thermoplastic filament is melted in a heated nozzle and deposited below. The computer-controlled print head is moved in order to build up the desired shape layer by layer. Investigations regarding printing of metals or ceramics are increasing more and more in research and industry. This study focuses on additive manufacturing (AM) with a multi-material approach to combine a metal (stainless steel) with a technical ceramic (zirconia: ZrO2). Combining these materials offers a broad variety of applications due to their different electrical and mechanical properties. The paper shows the main issues in preparation of the material and feedstock, device development, and printing of these composites.

Fused Filament Fabrication FFF of Metal-Ceramic Components

This study shows multi-material additive manufacturing (AM) using fused filament fabrication (FFF) of stainless steel and zirconia.

Technical ceramics are widely used for industrial and research applications, as well as for consumer goods. Today, the demand for complex geometries with ...

Additive Manufacturing of Functionally Graded Ceramic Materials by Stereolithography

An additive manufacturing technology is applied to obtain functionally graded ceramic parts. This technology, based on digital light processing/stereolithography, is developed within the scope of the CerAMfacturing European research project. A three-dimensional (3-D) hemi-maxillary bone-like structure is 3-D printed using custom aluminum oxide polymeric mixtures. The powders and mixtures are fully analyzed in terms of rheological behavior in order to ensure proper material handling during the printing process. The possibility to print functionally graded materials using the Admaflex technology is explained in this document. Field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) show that the sintered aluminum oxide ceramic part has a porosity lower than 1% and no remainder of the original layered structure is found after analysis.

This manuscript describes the processing of single multifunctional ceramic components (e.g., combinations of dense-porous structures) additively manufactured by stereolithography.

An additive manufacturing technology is applied to obtain functionally graded ceramic parts. This technology, based on digital light ...

Fabrication of Mechanically Tunable and Bioactive Metal Scaffolds for Biomedical Applications

Biometal systems have been widely used for biomedical applications, in particular, as load-bearing materials. However, major challenges are high stiffness and low bioactivity of metals. In this study, we have developed a new method towards fabricating a new type of bioactive and mechanically reliable porous metal scaffolds-densified porous Ti scaffolds. The method consists of two fabrication processes, 1) the fabrication of porous Ti scaffolds by dynamic freeze casting, and 2) coating and densification of the porous scaffolds. The dynamic freeze casting method to fabricate porous Ti scaffolds allowed the densification of porous scaffolds by minimizing the chemical contamination and structural defects. The densification process is distinctive for three reasons. First, the densification process is simple, because it requires a control of only one parameter (degree of densification). Second, it is effective, as it achieves mechanical enhancement and sustainable release of biomolecules from porous scaffolds. Third, it has broad applications, as it is also applicable to the fabrication of functionally graded porous scaffolds by spatially varied strain during densification.

Bioactive and mechanically reliable metal scaffolds have been fabricated through a method which consists of two processes, dynamic freeze casting for the fabrication of porous Ti, and coating and densification of the Ti scaffolds. The densification process is simple, effective and applicable to the fabrication of functionally graded scaffolds.

Biometal systems have been widely used for biomedical applications, in particular, as load-bearing materials. However, major challenges are high stiffness ...

Bioengineering

Epitaxial Nanostructured &alpha;-Quartz Films on Silicon: From the Material to New Devices

In this work, we show a detailed engineering route of the first piezoelectric nanostructured epitaxial quartz-based microcantilever. We will explain all the steps in the process starting from the material to the device fabrication. The epitaxial growth of &#945;-quartz film on SOI (100) substrate starts with the preparation of a strontium doped silica sol-gel and continues with the deposition of this gel into the SOI substrate in a thin film form using the dip-coating technique under atmospheric conditions at room temperature. Before crystallization of the gel film, nanostructuration is performed onto the film surface by nanoimprint lithography (NIL). Epitaxial film growth is reached at 1000 &#176;C, inducing a perfect crystallization of the patterned gel film. Fabrication of quartz crystal cantilever devices is a four-step process based on microfabrication techniques. The process starts with shaping the quartz surface, and then metal deposition for electrodes follows it. After removing the silicone, the cantilever is released from SOI substrate eliminating SiO2 between silicon and quartz. The device performance is analyzed by non-contact laser vibrometer (LDV) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Among the different cantilever&#8217;s dimensions included in the fabricated chip, the nanostructured cantilever analyzed in this work exhibited a dimension of 40 &#181;m large and 100 &#181;m long and was fabricated with a 600 nm thick patterned quartz layer (nanopillar diameter and separation distance of 400 nm and 1 &#181;m, respectively) epitaxially grown on a 2 &#181;m thick Si device layer. The&#160;measured&#160;resonance frequency was&#160;267 kHz and the estimated quality factor, Q, of the whole mechanical structure was Q ~ 398 under low vacuum conditions. We observed the voltage-dependent linear displacement of cantilever with both techniques (i.e., AFM contact measurement and LDV). Therefore, proving that these devices can be activated through the indirect piezoelectric effect.

Epitaxial Nanostructured &#945;-Quartz Films on Silicon: From the Material to New Devices

This work presents a detailed protocol for the microfabrication of nanostructured &#945;-quartz cantilever on a Silicon-On-Insulator(SOI) technology substrate starting from the epitaxial growth of quartz film with the dip coating method and then nanostructuration of the thin film via nanoimprint lithography.

In this work, we show a detailed engineering route of the first piezoelectric nanostructured epitaxial quartz-based microcantilever. We will explain all ...

High Temperature Fabrication of Nanostructured Yttria-Stabilized-Zirconia (YSZ) Scaffolds by In Situ Carbon Templating Xerogels

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