Ni1−xZnxFe2O4 (x = 0.5, 0.6, 0.7) nanoparticles were synthesized by a thermal decomposition method. The synthesized particles were identified as pure spinel ferrite structures by X-ray diffraction analysis, and they were calculated to be 46–51 nm in diameter by the Scherrer equation, depending on the composition. In the FE-SEM image, the ferrite nanoparticles have spherical shapes with slight agglomeration, and the particle size is about 50 nm, which was consistent with the value obtained by the Scherrer equation. The lattice parameter of the ferrite nanoparticles monotonically increased from 8.34 to 8.358 Å as the Zn concentration increased from 0.5 to 0.7. Initially, the saturation magnetization value slowly decreases from 81.44 to 83.97 emu/g, then quickly decreases to 71.84 emu/g as the zinc content increases from x = 0.5, through 0.6, to 0.7. Ni1−xZnxFe2O4 toroidal samples were prepared by sintering ferrite nanoparticles at 1250 °C and exhibited faceted grain morphologies in the FE-SEM images with their grain sizes being around 5 µm regardless of the Zinc content. The real magnetic permeability (μ′) of the toroidal samples measured at 5 MHz was monotonically increased from 106, through 150, to 217 with increasing the Zinc content from x = 0.5, through 0.6, to 0.7. The cutoff frequency of the ferrite toroidal samples was estimated to be about 20 MHz from the broad maximum point in the plot of imaginary magnetic permeability (μ″) vs. frequencies, which seemed to be associated with domain wall resonance.

Cordierite is an alumina-magnesia-silica compound widely used as a thermal shock resistant material due to its high thermal shock resistance, low coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), low dielectric constant, and good electrical insulation. However, its narrow sintering temperature range and low mechanical strength hinder its application in ceramic heaters. Although mullite shows excellent thermal and chemical stability, heat resistance, and mechanical strength, it has the disadvantages of high sintering temperatures (1600-1700 °C) and poor thermal shock resistance. In this study, a composite phase was prepared by mixing cordierite and mullite to expand the narrow sintering temperature range of cordierite and adjust its CTE to be similar to that of Si. Furthermore, Y₂O₃ was added to reduce the sintering temperature and to increase the mechanical strength. Therefore, the composite showed the highest density of 2.5 g/cm³ at 1380 °C when the ratio of mullite to cordierite was 20 wt%. When 11 wt% Y₂O₃ was added to this composition, the highest density was 2.8 g/cm³ for a sintering temperature of 1320 °C, and the mechanical strength was relatively good as 180 MPa of 3-points bending strength was comparatively good. The CTE was 2.6×10-6.K-1, which was similar to that of Si.

Cordierite composed of an alumina-silica-magnesia compound has a low coefficient of thermal expansion(CTE) and excellent thermal shock resistance. It also has a low dielectric constant and high electrical insulation. However, due to low mechanical strength, it is limited for use in a ceramic heater. In this study, ZrO2 is added to an 80 wt% cordierite-20 wt% mullite composition, and the effect of ZrO2 addition on the mechanical strength and thermal shock resistance is investigated. With an increasing addition of ZrO2, cordierite-mullite formed ZrO2, ZrSiO4 and spinel phases. With sintering conducted at 1400 degrees C with the addition of 5 wt% ZrO2 to 80 wt% cordierite-20 wt% mullite, the most dense microstructure forms along with an excellent mechanical strength with a 3-point flexural strength of 238MPa. When this composition is quenched in water at Delta T = 400 degrees C, the 3-point flexural strength is maintained. Moreover, when this composition is cooled from 800 degrees C to air, the 3-point flexural strength is maintained even after 100 cycles. In addition, the CTE is measured as 3.00 x 10(-6). K-1, at 1000 degrees C. Therefore, 80 wt% cordierite-20 wt% mullite with 5 wt% ZrO2 is considered to be appropriate as material for a ceramic heater.

Mullite (3Al2O3·2SiO2) has emerged as a promising candidate for high-temperature structural materials due to its erosion resistance, chemical and thermal stabilities, relatively low thermal expansion coefficient, excellent thermal shock and creep resistances, and low dielectric constant. However, since the pure mullite sintering temperature is as high as 1,600~1,700℃, there is an increasing need for a sintering additive capable of improving the strength characteristics while lowering the sintering temperature. Herein we have tried to obtain the optimal sintering additive composition by adding MgO, Cr2O3, and Y2O3 to mullite, followed by sintering at 1,325~1,550℃ for 2 h. With additives of 2 wt% of MgO, 2 wt% of Cr2O3, 4 wt% of Y2O3, A density of 3.23 g/cm³ was obtained for the sintered body at 1,350℃ upon using 2 wt% MgO, 2 wt% Cr2O3, and 4 wt% Y2O3 as additives. The three-point flexural strength of that was 275 MPa and the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) was 4.15 ppm/℃.

A molding-type power inductor is an inductor that uses a hybrid material that is prepared by mixing a ferrite metal powder coated with an insulating layer and an epoxy resin, which is injected into a coil-embedded mold and heated and cured. The fabrication of molding-type inductors requires various techniques such as for coil formation and insertion, improving the magnetic properties of soft magnetic metal powder, coating an insulating film on the magnetic powder surface, and increasing the packing density by well dispersing the powder in the epoxy resin. Among these aspects, researches on additives that can disperse the metal soft magnetic powder having the greatest performance in the epoxy resin with high charge have not been reported yet. In this study, we investigated the effect of silanes, KBM-303 and KBM-403, and a commercial dispersant on the dispersion of metal soft magnetic powders in epoxy resin. The sedimentation height and viscosity were measured, and it was confirmed that the silane KBM-303 was suitable for dispersion. For this silane, the packing density was as high as about 72.49%. Moreover, when 1.2 wt% of dispersant BYK-103 was added, the packing density was about 80.5%.

With trend of the miniaturization and the high-functionalizing of mobile communication system, low-loss microwave dielectric materials are widely used for high frequency communication components. These dielectric materials should be co-sintered with highly electric-conducting metal such as silver or copper for high-frequency and thick film process application. Sintering temperature of $Ca(Li_{1/3}Nd_{2/3})_{0.2}Ti_{0.8}]O_{3-{\delta}}$, which has excellent dielectric properties such as ${\varepsilon}_r$ above 40, quality factor ($Q{\cdot}f_0$) above 16,000 GHz, and TCF (temperature coefficient of resonant frequency) of $-20{\sim}-10ppm/^{\circ}C$, is reported as high as $1,175^{\circ}C$, so it could not be co-sintered with silver or copper. Therefore in this study, low-temperature melting glasses of Zn-B-O and Zn-B-Si-O systems were added to $Ca[(Li_{1/3}Nb_{2/3})_{0.8}Ti_{0.2}]O_{3-{\delta}}$ to lower its sintering temperature under $900^{\circ}C$ without losing excellency of dielectric properties. With 15 weight % of Zn-B-Si-O glass and sintered at $875^{\circ}C$, specimen showed density of $4.11g/cm^3$, ${\varepsilon}_r$ of 40.1, $Q{\cdot}f_0$ of 4,869 GHz, and TCF of $-5.9ppm/^{\circ}C$. With 15 weight % of Zn-B-O glass and sintered at $875^{\circ}C$, specimen showed density of $4.14g/cm^3$, ${\varepsilon}_r$ of 40.4, $Q{\cdot}f_0$ of 7,059 GHz, and TCF of $-0.92ppm/^{\circ}C$.

Hole explosion behaviors were observed during drilling fine holes with laser beam on the LTCC green bar of 320 ㎛ thick after lamination of green sheets prepared by tape casting of thick film process. The incidence of these hole explosions was inversely proportional to hole sizes. The incidence of hole explosion was 20 % number of hole with the size of 60 ㎛ exploded for the UV radiation, while the explosion did not appear for hole sizes over 100 ㎛. To prevent hole explosion behavior during laser-drilling of fine holes, carbon black powder was added as an additive in the LTCC composition, which has superior thermal durability. As a consequence, hole explosion rate was suppressed to 0.8 % for the hole size of 50 ㎛ green sheet with the carbon black amount of 10 weight % and the laser power of 3 watt. Added carbon is thought to reduce the heat-affected region during laser drilling.

Hole explosion behaviors were observed during drilling fine holes with laser beam on the LTCC green bar of $320{\mu}m$ thick after lamination of green sheets prepared by tape casting of thick film process. The incidence of these hole explosions was inversely proportional to hole sizes. The incidence of hole explosion was 20 % number of hole with the size of $60{\mu}m$ exploded for the UV radiation, while the explosion did not appear for hole sizes over $100{\mu}m$. To prevent hole explosion behavior during laser-drilling of fine holes, carbon black powder was added as an additive in the LTCC composition, which has superior thermal durability. As a consequence, hole explosion rate was suppressed to 0.8 % for the hole size of $50{\mu}m$ green sheet with the carbon black amount of 10 weight % and the laser power of 3 watt. Added carbon is thought to reduce the heat-affected region during laser drilling.

It is necessary for ferrite sheets to be fabricated with high packing density for excellent electrical properties and high strength. In this study, the relationship between the warpage and the packing density of ferrite green sheet, was investigated with amount variation of organic additives. With 0.4 wt% of dispersant, the packing density was about 48% and warpage appeared 0.5~1.3 mm high. With 1.4 wt% of dispersant, the packing density increased up to 57% and warpage appeared 0.8~2.1 mm high. With high packing density, warpage appeared along the edges of specimen, while with low packing density, deformation appeared over whole specimen inhomogeneously. It is thought that inhomogeneous deformation after sintering came from the inhomogeneity in green sheet prepared with badly dispersed slurry. With good homogeneity in green sheet from well-dispersed slurry, isotropic shrinkage is thought to have occurred along the distance from center to edges of specimen during sintering.

In solid oxide fuel cell system, yttria-stabilized zirconia is generally adopted as the electrolyte, which has high strength and superior oxygen ion conductivity, and the air electrode and the fuel electrode are attached to this. Recently, new structure of 'layered planar SOFC module' was suggested to solve the reliability problem due to the high temperature stability of a sealing agent and a binding material. In this study to materialize the air electrode in a layered planar SOFC module, the LSM ink was coated to form homogeneous electrode in the channel after the ink preparation. As the porosity control agent, PMMA or active carbon powder was adopted with use of a commercial dispersant in ethanol. The optimal amounts of both the porosity control agents and the dispersant were determined. Four (4) vol% of the dispersant for the LSM-PMMA case and 15 vol% for LSM-carbon powder showed the lowest viscosities respectively to indicate the best dispersed states of the slurries. With PMMA and carbon powder, sintered LSM ink shows the relatively homogeneous distributions of pores and with increases of the agents, the porosities increased in both cases. From this, it can be thought that the amount of the PMMA or carbon powder could be used to control the porosity of the LSM ink.

【Ag paste has been used in the front electrode of the Si-solar cell. It is composed by Ag powder, glass frit, binder, solvent and dispersant. The role of the binder and the solvent is to make a flow and a printing property. However, it was not enough to report the printing properties with the variation of binder in the controled viscosity. In this study, we selected 3 kinds of typical binder which were used as binder for the paste in the industry, such as Ethyl cellulose, Hydroxypropyl cellulose and Acrylic. Ag pastes using these were prepared, controled viscosity and printed on the SiNx coated Si wafer. In the 'A paste' used Acrylic binder, printed hight was highest and 'H paste' used Hydroxypropyl cellulose binder was lowest. Because 'H paste' was high viscosity due to the molecular weight, the solvent was added in the paste to control the viscosity. Therefore, the content of solid was lower in 'H paste'. The relative pattern width which is related to the spreading of paste was the best in the case of 'H paste' and 'EH paste' at $30^{\circ}C$ . It is thought that the optimization of the relative pattern width is possible for a paste by the controling shear thinning phenomenon. In the case of 'A paste', though printing hight was best, the pattern width was dependant on the temperature.】

For the purpose of ultra-thin layer MLCC application, a commercial BaTiO3 dielectric powder with an average particle size of 80 nm was used to apply additives, such as Dy, Mg, Mn, Si, Ba and Ca, by a coating method and the microstructure and dielectric properties of BaTiO3 sintered materials were investigated, as a function of the employed additives. Fixing Mn and Dy ions at 0.2 and 0.75 mol %, respectively and additionally varying Si and Mg from 1 to 1.5 mol % and from 1 to 2 mol %, respectively, the additives were sintered in a reducing atmosphere. Based on the results of an investigation of dielectric properties, Ba 1 mol % and Ca 1 mol % were added and Si and Mg ions were also added to check whether they are applicable to the MLCC composition. With an increase in the amount of Si added, grains were found to grow. In the case of Mg, the grain growth was not controlled even when its amount was increased to 2 mol %. On the other hand, with the addition amount of 2.5 mol %, the grain growth was controlled, consequently resulting in a microstructure having particles with uniform size. The composition with added Ca and Ba, which is known as a depressor, led to large grain growth. Consistent dielectric properties were identified according to changes in grain size and densification and the composition with added Mn (0.2 mol %), Dy (0.75 mol %), Si (1.5 mol %) and Mg (2.5 mol %) met the condition of X6S, temperature dependencies of dielectric constant, having uniform microstructure and reaching a dielectric constant of over 2000 at room temperature.

Glass ceramic has a high mechanical strength and low sintering temperature. So, it can beused as a thick film substrate or a high strength insulator. A series of glass ceramic samples based onMgO-Al2O3-SiO2-ZrO2 (MASZ) were prepared by melting at 1,600℃, roll-quenching and heat treatment atvarious temperatures from 900℃ to 1,400℃. Dependent on the heat treatment temperature used, glassceramics with different crystal phases were obtained. Their nucleation behavior, microstructure andmechanical properties were investigated with differential thermal analysis (DTA), X-ray diffraction (XRD),scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Vicker`s hardness testing machine. With increasing the heattreatment temperature of MASZ samples, their hardness and toughness initially increase and then reachthe maximum points at 1,300℃, and begin to decrease at above this temperature, which is likely to bedue to the softening of glass ceramics. As the content of ZrO2 in MAS glass ceramics increases from 7.0wt.% to 13 wt.%, Vicker`s hardness and fracture toughness increase from 853 Kg/mm2 to 878 Kg/mm2and 1.6 MPa??m1/2 to 2.4 MPa??m1/2 respectively, which seems to be related with the nucleation of elongatedphases like fiber.

The properties of LTCC green sheets formed by the MLS-22 powder of NEG Inc. were investigated for acrylic binders with different PVB and Tg in the variation of temperature. The elongation of the green sheets showed large variation depending on the temperature, and was rapidly decreased near the Tg of the sheets. With the increase of the ratio of plasticizer/binder (P/B), large elongation of the sheets was observed due to the decrease of the Tg. In the stacking process of the multilayer ceramic, the optimal control of the temperature is highly required depending on the Tg of the binder and the ratio of P/Buniform coating.

The synthesis conditions of low reaction temperature and normal pressure must be satisfied to improve dispersion and to facilitate the control of nano particle size. Based on this, the low temperature synthesis conditions of nano BaTiO3 particles were investigated using the molten salt method. Nano BaTiO3 particles were synthesized using KOH and KOH-KCl and the results of the different types of salt were compared. The potential synthesis at low temperature was also assessed according to the addition of water. The nucleation of BaTiO3 particles and growth of particles were promoted in the case of KOH-KCl compared to that of KOH. In the case of the KOH-KCl, sufficient phase synthesis was observed at 200 degrees C, which is lower than the melting point of salt of 401 degrees C. With the addition of water, phase synthesis occurred among the nano BaTiO3 particles at over 120 degrees C in a 7.6 M salt solution. This is thought to be caused by the increased solubility of salt due to the salting-in effect.

The microstructure, especially porosity, of PTC (positive temperature coefficient) thermistor based on BaTiO3 was controlled with a forming pressure. The relationship between theirPTCR properties and microstructureswas investigated with an optical and SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope) images and digital multimeter. Disk samples were fabricated by pressinguniaxially at various pressures of 100~15000kg/cm2 and sintering at 1265°C in reducing atmosphere and finally re-oxidizing at 700°C in air. The porosity of the samples decreased rapidly from 45% to 8% with increasing the forming pressure from 100 to 1000kg/cm2andbecame 4% at 15000kg/cm2with slowdecreasing of porosity in the pressure range of 1000~15000kg/cm2.With increasing the forming pressure, the resistivity jump of samplesdecreased rapidlyfrom 0.5 to 2.9 at about1000kg/cm2that corresponds tothe porosity of 15% and was saturated above this pressure. It is considered that there is a critical amount of porosity for having PTCR effect, which was about 15% in our samples. In addition, the porosity of the sample has a greater influence on the resistivity jump than on theresistivity at room temperature, which is due to the oxidation of grain boundary through a favorable channel of oxygen such as a pore.

The properties of LTCC green sheets formed by the MLS-22 powder of NEG Inc. were investigated for acrylic binders with different PVB and Tg in the variation of temperature. The elongation of the green sheets showed large variation depending on the temperature, and was rapidly decreased near the Tg o...