Relationship between sintering methods and physical properties of the low positive thermal expansion material Al2W3O12

Abstract Ceramic materials from the A 2 M 3 O 12 family with near‐zero thermal expansion are good candidates for applications requiring high thermal shock resistance. Considering their inherently low thermal conductivity, the bulk forms of A 2 M 3 O 12 have to present Young's moduli and mechanical strength close to 100 GP a and 100 MP a, respectively, in order to compete with the state‐of‐the‐art materials used to avoid thermal shock. The relationship between sintering, microstructure, and physical properties within the A 2 M 3 O 12 family is generally unknown while the preparation of bulks with high mechanical resistance remains a great challenge. Bulk samples of dense Al 2 W 3 O 12 (96% TD ) have been obtained by pressureless three‐stage sintering ( TSS ) and spark plasma sintering ( SPS ). The Young's moduli and hardness of samples prepared by SPS were 50% higher than that measured for TSS samples and more than 100% in comparison to the Al 2 W 3 O 12 bulk (91% TD ). UV ‐Vis spectroscopy confirmed that A 2 M 3 O 12 phases are wide band‐gap semiconductors (3.11 eV ). When prepared by SPS , black Al 2 W 3 O 12 absorbed light within the visible spectrum due to the introduction of donor sites within the band‐gap. No enhancement of the mechanism causing negative thermal expansion was observed for black Al 2 W 3 O 12 . The mechanical properties achieved were significantly improved over those previously reported in literature for Al 2 W 3 O 12 .