Effect of quenching-free method on the microstructure and properties of low-temperature sintered glass-ceramic composites

The Bi 2 O 3 –B 2 O 3 –SiO 2 –ZnO–Al 2 O 3 (BBSZA) glass/Al 2 O 3 composites are prepared by quenching and quenching-free methods and conducted a comparative analysis of their microstructures and properties. The results reveal that the BBSZA/Al 2 O 3 composite obtained by quenching free method has smaller pores and superior performance. Specifically, at a BBSZA content of 50 wt%, the composite exhibits a thermal conductivity of 5.352 W/m·K and a flexural strength of 193.54 MPa, which are 1.38 times and 2.08 times those obtained using the quenching method, respectively. XRD and TEM analyses , along with parallel experiments using other glasses, suggest that presintering crystallization may be the prerequisite for achieving denser composites via the quenching-free method. BBSZA glass reacts with Al 2 O 3 at the presintering process to generate a great amount of ZnAl 2 O 4 crystals, which enhances grain boundary energy and increases sintering density. This work provides insights into the low-cost and high-performance development of low temperature co-fired ceramics (LTCC).