Electronic ceramic powders include a wide variety of mixed metal oxide compounds and formulations.  These materials are based primarily on barium titanate (BaTiO3).  One of the most common applications is in multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCC's).  Particle size plays a critical role in the performance of these devices having significant effects on the physical construction, processing and electrical performance of a MLCC.  This application note describes the importance of particle size and provides a MLCC measurement example.

Application note on Particle Size of Electronic Ceramic Powders (You need to be logged in).

Many ceramic materials are made from a mixture of powders.  Choosing the optimum refractive index (RI) value for powder mixtures can be challenging.  This application note presents a structured approach to setting both the real and imaginary RI components for mixtures of powders.  The imaginary component selection can often be optimized using the Chi square calculation shown above.  Note:  this approach is applicable to all industries.

Application note on Refractive Index Selection for Powder Mixtures (You need to be logged in).

Determination of both the particle size distribution and the zeta potential of ceramic slurries is of key importance in optimizing performance.  The particle size of the slip is closely related to inhomogeneities, which in turn relate to fracture origins as well as shape distortion/cracking during drying, pyrolysis and sintering.  The zeta potential of the slurry particulates can be sued as a tool for optimizing chemical dosage to achieve the desired colloid stability and size distribution.  This application note investigates particle size and zeta potential of ceramic slurries measured without dilution using acoustic techniques.

Application note on Acoustics and Electroacoustics for Ceramics (You need to be logged in).