Zn 2 SnO 4 ceramics were synthesized by the solid-state method. B 2 O 3 was added into the system to lower the sintering temperature . B 2 O 3 -doped Zn 2 SnO 4 materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), electron microscopies (SEM/TEM/HRTEM/EDS), Raman and XPS spectroscopies. The inverse-spinel Zn 2 SnO 4 ceramics (containing 1 wt% B 2 O 3 ) sintered at 975 °C exhibited good microwave dielectric properties : ε r =9.3, Q × f =62,000 GHz and τ f =−50 ppm/°C. Zn 2 SnO 4 ceramics with low sintering temperatures are promising candidate materials for low-temperature cofired millimeter-wave devices.
Orthorhombic Mg 2 GeO 4 ceramics were synthesized by solid-state reaction method. When stoichiometric compositions were employed, the phase transition produced under low temperature and pure orthorhombic Mg 2 GeO 4 phase appeared at 1000 °C. B 2 O 3 was employed as sintering aid to lower the sintering temperature of Mg 2 GeO 4 ceramics and improve their relative densities. The B 2 O 3 -doped Mg 2 GeO 4 ceramics have a low sintering temperature of 1250 °C and a small negative τ f value. Microwave dielectric properties of B 2 O 3 -doped Mg 2 GeO 4 ceramics were: ε r = 6.76, Q × f = 95,000 GHz and τ f = −28.7 ppm/°C. They could be considered as promising candidate materials for microwave/millimeter-wave devices.
Herein, magnesium metatitanate (MgTiO3) ceramics were synthesised using recycled magnesia-hercynite (MH) bricks as the raw materials to achieve solid waste reusing of cement kiln refractories. The recycled MH materials were mixed with anatase TiO2 to investigate the effect of addition of doped B2O3 during the synthesis of MgTiO3 ceramics at 1400 °C. Phase compositions and microstructural studies were performed using x-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM), respectively. In addition, energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) was conducted and the dielectric properties of the samples were studied. Results show that the addition of B2O3 can promote sintering, improve shrinkage, promote densification, stabilise MgTiO3 lattice, and inhibit the formation of MgTiO3. In addition, the presence of appropriate amount of B2O3 can accelerate the material diffusion and result in grain growth through the formation of intercrystalline liquid phase. Results also suggest that an increase in dielectric constant results in a decrease in dielectric loss. It was concluded that 2 wt% was the optimum amount of B2O3 required to obtain the most favourable synthesis rate of MgTiO3 (98.2%). The samples exhibited a maximum density of 3.69 g·cm−3 and excellent microwave dielectric properties at εr = 18.28 and tanδ = 0.086.