TiO2 nanoparticulated LZSA glass-ceramic matrix composites

In this work, TiO2 (0–50 vol%) nanoparticles (25 nm) were added to a 11.7Li2O·12.6ZrO2·68.6SiO2·7.1Al2O3, LZSA (4 μm) glass-ceramic matrix to prepare composites in order to investigate the influence of TiO2 on the sinterability, crystallinity and some properties to obtain information to design materials for low temperature co-fired ceramics (LTCCs) applications. The sintered composites (700–1000 °C/30 min) with relative densities between 95% and 98%, showed β-podumene,TiO2 and Li2TiSiO5 as main crystalline phases. The maximum bending strength (235±84 MPa) was achieved for composites with 40% TiO2 sintered at 1000 °C/30 min. The coefficient of thermal expansion increased linearly with the concentration of TiO2, i.e., 3.5×10−6 °C−1 for 0% TiO2 and 9.5×10−6 °C−1 to 100% TiO2. The values of thermal conductivity were low and increased with the increase of the volumetric fraction of TiO2, reaching a maximum (3.30 W/mK) for samples (40% TiO2) sintered at 1000 °C/30 min. The measurements of electrical conductivity indicate that the obtained materials are electrical insulators (~10−10 S cm−1).