| Advanced Ceramics |
Thermal plasmas are characterized by high enthalpy and quenching rates. The high temperature available in the thermal plasma can vaporize any material and enhance reaction kinetics by several orders of magnitude. The rapid quenching of the particles can be used for generation of fine powders. This technique has been exploited in the synthesis of ceramic powders viz. Aluminum nitride, Silicon carbide, Titanium carbide, Aluminum oxide etc. The purity of the final product is least affected by the source compared to any other competitive techniques. It also eliminates many intermediates steps which are used in the conventional techniques thus generates less waste (environmentally friendly). It is also used to generate some metastable compounds, catalysts and for the synthesis of metal powders.
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