{"title":"Computational Model and Experimental Validation of the Influence of Grain-Boundary Parameters on the Electrical Performance of Arrester Varistor","authors":"Zhengzheng Fu, Zongxi Zhang, Songhai Fan, Tao Cui, Donghui Luo, Pengfei Meng, Yue Yin, Jingke Guo","doi":"10.1002/ces2.70039","DOIUrl":"10.1002/ces2.70039","url":null,"abstract":"<p>From a materials-computation perspective, this study integrates the electron-excitation model of double Schottky-barriers with a Voronoi network to characterize the microscopic electrical and structural properties of ZnO varistors. The quantitative influences of two pivotal barrier parameters—the grain donor density <i>N</i><sub>d</sub> and the grain-boundary interface-state density <i>N</i><sub>i</sub>—on macroscopic electrical performance metrics such as voltage gradient, leakage current, and current-withstand capability are systematically investigated. The reliability of the model is corroborated by accelerated aging tests on samples featuring a graded Y<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> doping profile, which also elucidate the effects of yttrium incorporation on varistor performance and aging resistance. The findings furnish a theoretical foundation for the design and fabrication of high-performance ZnO varistors and are of significant value for the development of surge arresters.</p>","PeriodicalId":13948,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Ceramic Engineering & Science","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ceramics.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ces2.70039","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146007386","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Mechanochemical Synthesis of Largely Amorphous Silver-Doped Calcium Phosphate Particles","authors":"Shuhei Hattori, Takashi Matsubara, Hirotaka Maeda, Yasutoshi Nishikawa, Toshihiro Kasuga","doi":"10.1002/ces2.70035","DOIUrl":"10.1002/ces2.70035","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Planetary ball milling of <i>β</i>-tricalcium phosphate (<i>β</i>-TCP) powders in acetone using 1 mm zirconia beads as milling media has been shown to produce largely amorphous, anhydrous calcium phosphate powders. This method enhances the release of Ca<sup>2</sup>⁺ and phosphate ions from the resulting particles. In this study, silver ions were successfully and uniformly incorporated into the calcium phosphate matrix by adding just 1 wt% Ag<sub>3</sub>PO<sub>4</sub> during the mechanochemical process, allowing for the straightforward fabrication of particles with well-dispersed Ag⁺ ions. When 5 wt% Ag<sub>3</sub>PO<sub>4</sub> was used, both dispersed Ag⁺ ions and metallic silver nanoparticles were detected. Upon immersion in HEPES buffer solution (pH 7.40), the concentrations of Ag⁺, Ca<sup>2</sup>⁺, and phosphate ions increased significantly within 24 h. Powder x-ray diffraction revealed time-dependent changes during immersion, attributed to hydroxyapatite formation. Antibacterial testing showed that particles doped with 1 wt% Ag<sub>3</sub>PO<sub>4</sub> exhibited strong antibacterial activity against <i>Escherichia coli</i> and <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i>. This mechanochemical route offers a simple and effective method for uniformly incorporating trace levels of silver ions into anhydrous amorphous calcium phosphate particles.</p>","PeriodicalId":13948,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Ceramic Engineering & Science","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ceramics.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ces2.70035","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145958115","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Kimiyasu Sato, Ryutaro Usukawa, Yusuke Imai, Yuji Hotta, Hüseyin Yilmaz
{"title":"Interparticle Forces Behind Plasticity of Ceramic Pastes: A Literature Review","authors":"Kimiyasu Sato, Ryutaro Usukawa, Yusuke Imai, Yuji Hotta, Hüseyin Yilmaz","doi":"10.1002/ces2.70036","DOIUrl":"10.1002/ces2.70036","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Plastic-forming methods of ceramic pastes, such as extrusion, have been significant in the ceramics industry for many years. Despite its significance, the plasticity of ceramic pastes is poorly understood. It is essential to understand the fundamentals of ceramic paste plasticity to develop a forming technology with superior performance. The ceramic pastes’ plasticity can be characterized by the co-existence of apparently opposing properties, that is, “flowability” and “rigidity.” It has been claimed that the apparently opposing properties can be achieved by controlling the interparticle interaction that is attractive at long range and repulsive at short range. The present article aims to verify the model based on experimental results from interaction force measurements. The interaction forces are gathered by the atomic force microscope (AFM) colloid probe technique. On the basis of the discussion, it is concluded that the above microscopic model is available to interpret ceramic pastes’ macroscopic behaviors.</p>","PeriodicalId":13948,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Ceramic Engineering & Science","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ceramics.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ces2.70036","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145887226","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Influence of Phosphates on Pore Solution pH in Alkali-Activated MgO-Al2O3-SiO2-P2O5 Cement","authors":"Titus Reed, John C. Mauro","doi":"10.1002/ces2.70037","DOIUrl":"10.1002/ces2.70037","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Nuclear waste storage applications require a new type of cementitious material having lower pH than Portland cement and compatibility with embedded steel. Since phosphates can be used as both pH buffers and corrosion inhibitors in carbon steel, a series of phosphate-containing alkali-activated materials were prepared from MgO-Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>-SiO<sub>2</sub>-P<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5</sub> precursor materials with various MgO, Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>, SiO<sub>2</sub>, and P<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5</sub> concentrations. These samples were activated with sodium hydroxide and cured for 28 days at 35°C. The impact of precursor phosphate content on pore solution composition and pH was examined using cold-water extraction (CWE) and Gibbs energy minimization (GEM) modeling. For samples activated with the same amount of sodium, higher phosphate content in the precursor material leads to lower pH in the pore solution. When the pore solution is saturated with sodium phosphate and the soluble Na/P ratio is between 2 and 3, the pH decreases from 15.1 ± 0.1 in the absence of phosphates to 11.0 ± 0.1 with phosphates. The resulting pore solution and a precipitated mixture of di- and tri-sodium phosphate have a buffering effect on the pore solution's pH and Na<sup>+</sup>, keeping the pH and Na<sup>+</sup> concentration near 11.0 and 1.0 mol/kg, respectively. This pH is within the range desired for certain nuclear waste storage applications.</p>","PeriodicalId":13948,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Ceramic Engineering & Science","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ceramics.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ces2.70037","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145824802","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Phase Composition-Controlled Synthesis, Microstructure, and Properties of TiB2–TiC Composite","authors":"Wenzhou Sun, Huan Liu, Lu youjun, Shidiao Xu","doi":"10.1002/ces2.70034","DOIUrl":"10.1002/ces2.70034","url":null,"abstract":"<p>TiB<sub>2</sub>–TiC composite ceramics were synthesized by boro/carbothermal reduction of oxides and densified by spark plasma sintering. Thermodynamic processes within the reaction system were discussed, and phase diagrams were constructed to guide formulation design. In addition, the phase constituents, impurity content, micromorphology of the powders and densification, mechanical properties, and oxidation resistance of the composite ceramics were studied. The results indicate that reasonable adjustment of carbon content can effectively regulate the phase content in the composite ceramics, allowing for adjustable TiB<sub>2</sub> content within the range of 35–75 wt%. Additionally, it suppresses excessive grain growth of boride, maintaining the grain size of both phases at approximately 200 nm and reducing the residual C and O impurities. When the ratio of TiB<sub>2</sub>:TiC in the powder is 64.1:35.9 wt%, the grain sizes of the two phases are most similar, resulting in the highest density of sintered TiB<sub>2</sub>–TiC composite ceramics, reaching 99.78%. The corresponding Vickers hardness can reach 24.07 ± 0.53 GPa.</p>","PeriodicalId":13948,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Ceramic Engineering & Science","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ceramics.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ces2.70034","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145845812","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}