Nanophase Ceramics

At the time of initiation of this research, the materials community was just becoming aware of the pioneering work on nanophase materials by Prof. Gleiter, in Germany, and the forecasts of new materials with highly desirable properties were being offered. For ceramic materials, the potential for low temperature sintering and superplastic deformation were very exciting possibilities while the effect of nanoscale grain structures on other properties were also of interest. This research therefore, was initiated to evaluate the properties of monolithic, nanophase ceramic materials.