NEWS

MEETING REPORT

Nanoceramics and nanocomposites*

Nanoceramics/nanocomposite are defined ture has strong potential to develop various materials by mechanical milling’. The re-
as novel bulk materials or coating with kinds of multifunctional materials for the sults of a recent study to synthesize the
microstructural architecture, characterized energy and environment sectors. His talk nano-crystalline (Co,Ni)Al2O4 spinel
by at least one of the ceramic phases hav- elaborated on the development of new powder by ball milling and subsequent
ing length scale between 1 and 100 nm. multifunctional ceramic materials with annealing were presented. Mukhopadhyay
The major drive for wider interest in improved strength and toughness, together discussed how significant enhancement
nanoceramics and its composites has been with new functions. One important ex- in the magnetic properties of nanospinels
the fact that one can potentially achieve ample was a polymer-based nanocompo- compared to that of nano-decagonal
better and some unusual material properties site with a new sensing function, like the phase could be attributed to the spinel
by manipulating length scale in the nano human finger tip, which has already been structures. The weak ferromagnetic phase,
range. Therefore, better performance and industrialized as a special sensor of the exhibiting close to superparamagnetic
newer application of the materials, for intelligent robot. A significant part of behaviour was established for the first
example, durable bone replacement ma- Niihara’s lecture dealt with the develop- time in the nano-quasicrystalline phase.
terials using polymer–ceramic nanobio- ment of ‘intermaterials’, a special class Hai-Doo Kim (Korea Institute of Ma-
composite have now been made possible. of multifunctional materials containing terials Science, Korea) delivered the first
In the above backdrop, the workshop inorganic, organic and metal materials, talk on ‘Two-step sintering to produce
on nanoceramics and nanocomposites incorporated in the nano, molecular and nanocrystalline bulk silicon nitride ce-
was organized. It was part of the wider atom level. New design concepts on mo- ramics’. He presented the recent results
activities of IIT Kanpur in the area of lecular/cluster/lattice-level composites, related to enhancement in the densifica-
nanoscience and nanotechnology. Close their related results and future aspects of tion with minimum grain growth for sili-
to 100 delegates, from Japan, USA, South research were presented. con nitride ceramics with liquid phase.
Korea and various Indian institutions at- Rajendra Bordia (University of Wash- Some preliminary results on how to re-
tended the workshop. ington, Seattle, USA) spoke on ‘Polymer- duce the amount of liquid phase to sinter
The objectives of the workshop were derived nanostructured ceramics stru- nano silicon nitride ceramics were also
to organize and review the progress and ctured ceramics’. He discussed the pro- presented.
also to identify some of the important cessing of nanostructured composite Parag Bhargava (IIT, Bombay) spoke
scientific issues related to nanoceramics coatings, use of polymer-derived cera- on ‘Production of nano YSZ powders
and nanocomposites. There were three mics to join ceramics and processing of and their consolidation through slip cast-
plenary sessions and six technical ses- controlled porosity ceramics (e.g. in situ ing’. Different steps such as nanopowder
sions. Different aspects of research related carbon nanotubes in ceramic matrix). synthesis, characterization, slurry prepa-
to production of nanoceramics and nano- Bordia commented that this approach has ration, rheological characterization of the
composites, properties of such novel the feasibility to form high-performance slurry, consolidation of the slurry fol-
materials, including creep and superplas- ceramics at low processing temperatures lowed by sintering of the consolidated
ticity properties, dielectric and ferroelectric (<1200°C). nanopowders were detailed in his presen-
properties, nanostructured hard coatings, The second lecture was by H. Sue- tation.
metallic nanocomposites, biomimetics and matsu (Nagaoka University of Technology, H. Tsuda’s (Osaka Prefecture Univer-
tissue engineering, and nanofluids were Japan) on ‘New processing development sity, Japan) talk was on ‘Precipitation of
discussed by 20 invited speakers. for metal and ceramic nanopowders’. He Ti in TiC particles of Ti matrix compos-
In the first plenary session, Koichi Nii- elaborated upon various preparation ites from Ti–C–N powder mixtures using
hara (Nagaoka University of Technology, methods for the production of metal and reactive arc-melting’. Using the results
Japan) reviewed the area of multi- oxide nanopowders, with particular focus of detailed analysis of transmission elec-
function integrated nanocomposite mate- on the novel pulsed wire discharge tron microscopy observations, the effects
rials, which are being developed in various (PWD) method. The adaptability of PWD of the nitrogen content on the micro-
ceramic systems in an effort to signifi- process for large-scale production in the structures of TiC particles and Ti matrix
cantly improve mechanical and thermal industrial environment was also men- were discussed.
properties of structural ceramics. He also tioned. Suematsu mentioned that PWD, a Atul H. Chokshi (Indian Institute of
suggested that the nanocomposite struc- highly energy-efficient method, has the Science (IISc), Bangalore) gave a talk on
capability to produce passivated metal ‘High-temperature creep and superplas-
*A report on the International Workshop on
nanopowders, which can be used as con- ticity in oxide ceramics’. His lecture fo-
Nanoceramics and Nanocomposites held at ducting paste for electromagnetic radia- cused on the fundamental aspects of
the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur on tion shields and in electric circuit boards. creep and superplasticity in oxide ceram-
8 and 9 September 2007. The workshop was N. K. Mukhopadhyay (Institute of Tech- ics, such as alumina and zirconia. The
jointly organized by the Department of Mate- nology, BHU, Varanasi) elucidated on results of the sinter forging experiments
rials and Metallurgical Engineering and the the ‘Synthesis of nanocrystalline (Co,Ni) to demonstrate the creep and superplast-
DST Unit on Nanosciences at IIT Kanpur. Al2O4 spinel powder from quasicrystalline city in nonmetallic solids were presented

570 CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 95, NO. 5, 10 SEPTEMBER 2008

 NEWS
with reference to current understanding ‘Biomimetic nanocomposites for tissue stitute, Kolkata) delivered a plenary lec-
of such phenomena in metals. engineering’. He discussed the successful ture entitled ‘Nanostructured ceramics
Takashi Goto (Tohoku University, Japan) exploitation of molecular cavities present for fuel cell and battery applications’. He
delivered a lecture on ‘Nanostructured in globular proteins to carry out in situ spoke about various state-of-the-art ma-
thick oxide coating by laser CVD’, wherein synthesis of magnetic and bioceramic terials for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC)
he discussed a new laser-based chemical nanoparticles. He commented that such and emphasized that the major drive for
vapour deposition (LCVD) technique, nanoparticles could be further trans- the use of such nanostructured ceramic is
that could achieve 100–1000 times higher formed into aqueous ferrofluids and mi- to enable the operation of SOFC in the
deposition rates than that of conventional croporous hydroxyapatite granules for temperature range 500–650°C. It was shown
CVD for wide-area coatings. He com- different biomedical applications. that the doping of nanosized Ag in Li-
mented that the LCVD process can be Panchanan Pramanik (IIT, Kharagpur) CoO2 cathode increases the electrical
useful to obtain various kinds of oxide gave a talk on ‘Preparation and charac- conductivity by 2–3 orders of magnitude
coatings by changing the precursor source terization of hydroxyapatite/polymer nano- with reference to undoped materials. The
materials. This new technique for thick composite for bone implant applications’. synthesis of nanocrystalline Li4Ti5O12
oxide coatings is applicable for a wide He discussed the synthesis of nanocom- using an aqueous combustion process
range of engineering coatings. posite between nanosized hydroxyapatite with alanine fuel was discussed.
Ashok K. Ganguli (IIT, Delhi) pre- and various polymers, having functional In the last technical session, the invited
sented his work on ‘A novel oscillatory groups like –OH, –NH2, –COOH. The talk entitled ‘Mechanical properties of
behaviour of the dielectric properties as a dramatic improvements in mechanical hard coatings: Monolayers, multi-layers
function of nano-additive in sintered properties of all the composites with in- and nanostructures’ was presented by
compacts of nano and micron sized parti- crease in the amount of HAp particles up Vikram Jayaram (IISc). Initially, Jayaram
cles of titanates, zirconates, niobates and to optimum level were also discussed described the fundamental theory related
tantalates’. Oscillatory variation of the with reference to their potential applica- to the application of contact deformation
dielectric constant, dielectric loss with tion for bone-implants. and fracture in hard coatings. The ex-
increase in the amount of nanoparticles The last lecture on ‘Nanoceramic ap- perimental results obtained using a com-
in nanocomposites of titanates (SrTiO3, proaches to antibiotic therapy for bone bination of depth-sensing indentation and
BaTiO3 and PbTiO3) and variation in the infections’ by T. S. Sampath Kumar (IIT, focused ion beam were also presented.
dielectric constant at Tc to reflect the be- Madras) highlighted the need for proc- Suman K. Mishra (National Metallur-
haviour of the ferroelectric transition essing of nanocrystalline bioactive cal- gical Laboratory, Jamshedpur) delivered
were also presented. cium phosphate ceramics for antibiotic a lecture on ‘Nano and fine hard ceramic
The first day of the workshop ended delivery. The emphasis was on the silver- composites and coatings by SHS and
with a panel discussion on ‘Future per- substituted hydroxyapatite with incorpo- PVD processes’. In her presentation, the
spectives on the development of nanoma- rated bactericidal effects as a new class novel processing routes, such as self-
terials’, wherein the need for a product- of nanomaterials, especially as a con- propagating high temperature synthesis
oriented research programme was ex- struct for tissue-engineering applications. and sputtering process were discussed
pressed and also that India should focus Indranil Manna (IIT, Kharagpur) with reference to in situ synthesis of the
more on developing technologies to fab- spoke on ‘Nano-dispersed solid alloys nano, fine composites and nanocompo-
ricate nanoceramics/nanocomposite-based and thermal fluids’. He touched upon site coatings. The talk focused on fabri-
products. some of the issues related to nanoscale cation of hard boride–alumina dense bulk
In the second plenary session on the dispersion phenomena in amorphous sol- ceramic composite by SHS process and
second day, the plenary lecture was de- ids (structural application) and liquids nanocomposite hard coatings of silicon
livered by Arup K. Raychaudhuri (S. N. (thermal engineering). The role of kinetic carbonitride (Si–C–N) and titanium dibor-
Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, and thermodynamic factors in determin- ides systems by magnetron sputtering.
Kolkata) on ‘Growth of anisotropic com- ing the final microstructure comprising She also presented results in developing
posites in nanoporous alumina using nano-intermetallic and amorphous phases ZrO2–ZrB2 composites using SHS-
electrochemical deposition’. Using the was then discussed. processed ZrB2 powders and sinter-HIP
results of some novel experiments from A. K. Suri (BARC, Mumbai) spoke on route.
his research, Raychaudhuri illustrated ‘Nanoceramics’. He introduced the effect The concluding session discussed how
how the filling up of pores can be carried of pressure on green density and pore- such meetings will facilitate the cross-
out using metal (and also semiconductor) size distribution in the compact as well fertilization of ideas in the emerging area
nanowires and nanotubes by electro- as on the shrinkage during sintering. He of nanoceramics and nanocomposites.
chemical growth method with rotating also elucidated upon the rate of heating
electric field. He also demonstrated how and the importance of dispersibility of
such an approach can lead to the devel- the nanoceramic powder on the densifi-
opment of the composites with novel cation of nanoceramics powders with
properties, that utilize long aspect ratio special reference to zirconia–yttria sys- Bikramjit Basu, Department of Materi-
of the nanowires and nanotubes. tem. als and Metallurgical Engineering, Indian
Arvind Sinha (National Metallurgical In the third plenary session, H. S. Maiti Institute of Technology, Kanpur 208 016,
Laboratory, Jamsehdpur) gave a talk on (Central Glass and Ceramic Research In- India. e-mail: [email protected]

CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 95, NO. 5, 10 SEPTEMBER 2008 571