Study on Combined Dielectric Barrier Discharge Treatment and Flash Sintering of ZnO Ceramics

In conventional ceramic manufacturing, the prolonged heating required for debinding and sintering results in high energy consumption. To address this issue, this study employs a ceramic green body debinding technique based on dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) as a replacement for conventional debinding, and utilizes flash sintering (FS) in place of conventional sintering, investigating the feasibility of applying both methods simultaneously in ceramic production. The impact of electrical contact between the graphite felt and the sample on flash sintering was studied, and the results indicate that poor electrical contact leads to a larger arc development area, more intense sintering, and higher electrical power input to the sample. Samples that underwent DBD debinding achieved a post-flash sintering density of over 94%. Compared to conventional debinding, DBD-debound samples exhibited larger grain sizes and more residual pores after flash sintering.