Prof. Raj's principal area of research is related to topics in 'Flash Sintering' which was pioneered in his laboratory in 2010. Since then the topic has been recognized throughout the world. It is expanding into new regimes such as manufacturing, the discovery of new materials. The method of processing dense materials from powders uses less than !% of the energy required in donventional methods. Furthermore it is an enabling technology for the synthesis of materials for lithium ion batteries and fuel cells. The flash phenomena are leading to new fundamental science, which is highly interdisciplinary. During the past year, Raj has collaborated with Prof. Reznik and Prof. Minhyea in Physics. Reznik and Raj have obtained remarkable new results at the Neutron Scattering facility at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, The topic is expanding into new fields such rapid chemical reactions of relevance to industry. For example ZnS can be converted into ZnO in a few seconds at low temperatures. Conventionally the roasting process requires long times at high temperatures. We have just discovered that 'ultra low energy' electron plasmas are generated at a few volts, which would have applications in catalysis and biological therapy. Applications in surface science and hyper catalysis is in the wings.
keywords
flash sintering, polymer derived ceramics, electrification of materials synthesis and manufacturing
