Advances in Aluminium Titanate

Advances in Aluminium Titanate

Synthesis, Properties and Applications

von It Meng Low

This book is an invaluable resource for academics, researchers, and doctoral students who are working on aluminium titanate  (Al2TiO5) and closely related materials based on Al2TiO5. This book is also very useful for designing engineers who deal with the use of aluminium titanate in various industrial applications. Al2TiO5 is an excellent refractory and thermal shock resistant material due to its relatively low thermal expansion coefficient and high melting point. By virtue of these excellent properties, they also have high thermal shock resistance and have practical applications such as diesel particulate filters. However Al2TiO5 is inherently weak due to formation of grain boundary microcracks following sintering, and it suffers from the tyranny of  phase decomposition during service at  between 900-1280°C. The tyranny of weakness and inherent decomposition of Al2TiO5 is a critical issue that must be dealt with to improve its performance in various applications and extreme environment. This book provides insights for mitigating these problems and suggests solutions for improving its mechanical properties and thermal stability. An overview of the thermal stability of Al2TiO5 and its composites is described together with the various factors that contribute to its decomposition. The ability of this material to undergo self-recovery or self-healing after decomposition when it is reheated above 1300°C is brilliantly demonstrated. 

Highlights

• Investigates the thermal stability and oxidation behavior of MAX phase at elevated temperatures and extreme environments Uses advanced diffraction techniques to study the dynamic decomposition kinetics of various MAX phases Studies the critical parameters controlling the decomposition behavior in extreme environments

Über den Autor

Prof. I.M. (Jim) Low is the sole author of this book. He gained his B.Eng. and Ph.D. degrees in Materials Engineering from Monash University prior to taking up academic positions first at Auckland University and then Curtin University. He was awarded a Visiting Professorship by the Japanese Ministry of Education to work with Prof. Niihara at Osaka University in 1995/1996. He is a Fellow of the Australian Ceramic Society and serves on the editorial boards of several materials-related journals. He is also the recipient of the prestigious 1996 Joint Australian Ceramic Society/Ceramic Society of Japan Ceramic Award for excellence in ceramics research. Prof. Low has authored or edited more than 11 books and is author of about 300 archival research papers. His h-index is 60 with about 12,000 citations. His research interests include aluminum titanate, composite materials, nanomaterials, photocatalysis, toughening mechanisms and failure micromechanics. He has published numerous papers on aluminium titanate and its composites. He is the first researcher to discover the ability of aluminium titanate to undergo self-recovery following its phase decomposition.