Grain Boundaries in Ceramic Materials: Amorphous Phases and Interfacial Bonding (Materials Research)

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This is a Research Planning Grant under the Research Opportunities For Women Program. The objective of the research is to study the fundamental aspects of bonding at ceramic grain boundaries. The forces that exist at the grain boundaries will be measured directly with a new instrument which determines the forces required to bring two ceramic surfaces together and then separate them. The forces will be measured as a function of crystallographic direction in the crystalline ceramic surfaces. Scanning electron microscopy and analytical transmission electron microscopy will also be used to characterize the ceramic crystals and the amorphous grain boundaries. Microcrack propagation and electrical properties will also be measured for the boundaries. No such direct measurement of the repulsive/attractive forces between the two crystal surfaces has yet been possible. The surface forces apparatus provides an exciting opportunity to obtain new information on the physical properties of ceramic grain boundaries and the role of the amorphous intergranular phases.