Glass reactive sintering as an alternative route for the synthesis of NZP glass–ceramics

The NZP-type crystal structure allows a large number of ionic substitutions which leads to ceramics with adjustable thermal expansion properties or interesting ionic conductivity. However, NZP is difficult to fabricate into monoliths because it requires both high temperatures and long sintering times. An alternative low temperature route to obtain a tungsten (IV) and tin (IV) containing NZP crystalline phase uses a process of glass reactive sintering of a phosphate glass. Using a microwave oven, a glass with the appropriate composition in the NaPO3–Sn(II)O–W(VI)O3 ternary diagram is prepared by a conventional melting and casting technique. After crushing, the glass powder is pressed at room temperature. The green pellet is cured during various times at temperatures where glass reactive sintering takes place. From XRD and DTA experiments, we have shown that different parameters influence the achievement of NZP phase. Consequently, specific conditions, such as (i) initial glass composition, (ii) equimolar quantities of SnO and WO3, (iii) glass particle size lower than 100 μm, and (iv) curing conducted under air, are required to obtain a glass–ceramic with a single crystalline phase with the NZP-type crystal structure.