Dielectric barrier discharge based defect engineering method to assist flash sintering

Oxygen vacancy plays an important role in the flash sintering (FS) process. In defect engineering, the methods to create oxygen vacancy defect include doping, heating, and etching, and all of them often have complex process or equipment. In this study we used dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) as a new defect engineering technology to increase oxygen vacancy concentration of green billet with different ceramics (ZnO, TiO₂ and 3 mol% yttria-stabilized zirconia (3YSZ)). With a 10 kHz AC power supply, the low-temperature plasma was generated and the specimen could be treated in different atmosphere. The effect of DBD treatment was influenced by atmosphere, treatment time, and voltage amplitude of power supply. After DBD treatment, the oxygen vacancy defect concentration in the ZnO samples increased significantly, and the resistance test showed that the conductivity of the samples increased by 2–3 orders of magnitude.  Moreover, the onset electric field of ZnO FS decreased from 5.17 kV/cm to 0.86 kV/cm at room temperature, while in the whole FS the max Power dissipation decrease from 563.17 W to 27.94 W. The defect concentration and conductivity of the green billets for TiO₂ and 3YSZ also changed by DBD, and then the FS process was modified. It is a new technology to treat green billet of ceramic in very short time, applicable to other ceramics, and beneficial to regulate the FS process.