Microwave sintering, an emerging technology in which the energy is applied
directly to the material, enabling rapid sintering, shows potential for the
synthesis of advanced ceramic materials with superior properties. The proc
ess is complex, combining the propagation and absorption of electromagnetic
waves in the ceramic material, heat transport within the geometric body, a
nd densification, The densification changes both macroscopic shape and micr
ostructural morphology, A dynamic balance between the rate of electromagnet
ic energy absorbed within the bulk of the sample and the rate of energy los
s from its surface generally results in temperature gradients. These temper
ature gradients may be especially important during the microwave sintering
of bodies with a complex geometry, because neither the diffusion distance n
or the electromagnetic penetration depth scale with sample dimensions. The
gradients generated in a ZnO green body of a complex geometry were studied
theoretically using various microwave-sintering approaches, anti it was fou
nd that (1) dual-frequency (2.45 and 30 GHz) microwave processing leads to
a decrease in the duration of the temperature gradients, and (2) an increas
e in the heating rate from 5 degrees C/min to 1400 degrees C/min at 2.45 GH
z decreases the total required microwave energy by a factor of 55, while at
the same time the internal temperature gradients are maintained over a sub
stantially shorter time,