Sintering of green samples of alumina produced by ice-templating was followed in-situ in an environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM) up to temperatures as high as 1375°C. For the present study, these samples have the advantage to exhibit an important topography, inducing interesting contrast when imaged in ESEM. Improvements of the imaging conditions in ESEM were essential to really follow the sintering process involving formation of necks between grains or shift of the center of grains. This work describes the improvements made and the results observed on the sintering process of alumina green samples processed by ice-templating.

Publication

[1] Joly-Pottuz L, Bogner A, Lasalle A, Malchere A, Thollet G, Deville S. Improvements for imaging ceramics sintering in situ in esem. Journal of Microscopy 2011.