Two‐Step Sintering of Pristine and Aluminum‐Doped Zinc Oxide Ceramics.

ZnO and Al‐doped ZnO ceramics with high density and fine grain size were prepared using a two‐step sintering method. ZnO ceramics with a grain size of 1.2 μm and a density greater than 99% were obtained. The kinetic window for a ZnO nanoparticle TSS process was determined in this study. Dense AZO ceramics with homogeneous Al distribution were obtained using a high sintering temperature (<italic>T</italic>st) of 1323 K and a low sintering temperature (<italic>T</italic>nd) of 1273 K. The activation energies for ZnO and AZO nanoparticle grain growth were determined to be 169 ± 18 kJ/mol and 374 ± 36 kJ/mol, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]