Interfaces in Nanocrystalline Oxide Materials: From Powders Toward Ceramics

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materials with particle densities varying between that of a loose nanoparticle aggregate to that of a dense polycrystalline ceramic can be engineered through powder compression and subsequent sintering procedures. e properties of such materials depend on the size, chemical composition, and structure of constituent grains, as well the nature of interfacial regions between grains and intergranular pores. However, probing and controlling the properties and abundance of interfacial regions in nanocrystalline oxides is extremely dicult, which presents a formidable challenge to the design of highperformance functional materials [12].