Aerosol Routes for Powder Synthesis

The critical role of powder properties in determining the ultimate strength of ceramic materials has been clearly demonstrated in numerous studies, so over the past several years increasing efforts have been made to improve the nature of ceramic powders. It has been suggested that the ideal powder would consist of approximately spherical particles with carefully controlled composition, and uniformly sized, typically in the 0.1 to 1 pm size range, and available in a nonagglomerated state. While it may be debated whether a monodisperse powder would be truly optimal, it is clear that control over particle size distribution, particle morphology, and composition is critical to the development of high performance ceramic materials.