SINTERING BEHAVIOR OF LITHIUM-TITANATE PEBBLES: MODIFICATIONS OF MICROSTRUCTURE AND PORE MORPHOLOGY

摘要

Morphological modifications of mesoscopic structure in lithium titanate pebbles with sintering have been investigated using small angel neutron scattering (SANS), helium pycnometer, mercury porosimeter and electron microscopy. Lithium titanate, used in the study, was synthesized by solid state reaction of a mixture of lithium carbonate and titanium dioxide at 750°C. Green pebbles of lithium titanate were fabricated from synthesized powder by extrusion and spherodization technique. The green pebbles were sintered at 900°C for different duration. From SEM analysis and SANS it was found that the average size of the pores initially increases slightly with sintering time and then decreases although the density of the pebble increases monotonically with sintering time.