3D printing and pressureless sintering of Li2TiO3 for next generation dielectric resonator antennas.
| Title: | 3D printing and pressureless sintering of Li2TiO3 for next generation dielectric resonator antennas. |
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| Authors: | Summers JM; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, 76207, USA.; Vu A; Department of Electrical Engineering, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, 76207, USA.; Maldonado J; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, 76207, USA.; Bustamantes E; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, 76207, USA.; Luyen H; Department of Electrical Engineering, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, 76207, USA.; Bujanda A; DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD, 21005, USA.; Parker T; DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD, 21005, USA.; Tsang H; DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD, 21005, USA.; Shepherd ND; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, 76207, USA. nigel.shepherd@unt.edu. |
| Source: | Scientific reports [Sci Rep] 2025 Mar 12; Vol. 15 (1), pp. 8570. Date of Electronic Publication: 2025 Mar 12. |
| Publication Type: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Journal Info: | Publisher: Nature Publishing Group Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 101563288 Publication Model: Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 2045-2322 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 20452322 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Sci Rep Subsets: MEDLINE; PubMed not MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Original Publication: London : Nature Publishing Group, copyright 2011- |
| Abstract: | Direct-write additively manufactured (AM) high-performance lithium titanate (Li2TiO3) microwave RF ceramic with comparable density, dielectric constant, dielectric loss, and quality factor to traditionally made equivalents is demonstrated. Increasing the surface-to-volume ratio and interfacial free energy in designed electrosteric slurries is shown to be effective for driving pressureless sintering and porosity elimination. A relative density as high as 96.4% was achieved without the application of pressure. [Formula: see text] values up to 45,000 GHz, dielectric constants ([Formula: see text]) up to 19, and loss tangents ([Formula: see text]) of 1E-3 were achieved at ~ 14 GHz and correlated well with densification. However, compounds such as Li2CO3 and LiCl that formed due to reactions between the dispersing phase and Li2TiO3 and other contaminants could not be completely removed which likely limited the achievable density and dielectric loss. Dielectric resonator antennas fabricated from the printed Li2TiO3 using a convergent manufacturing approach exhibited a bandwidth of 16‒18 GHz and gain peaking at 8.42 dBi between 16.25‒18.0 GHz. Over this range, the measured total efficiency remained above 90%, highlighting the low-loss nature of the resonator material and structure. The results show the potential of direct-write AM and convergent manufacturing approaches for the development and customization of printed, next-generation, ceramic RF materials and passives.; (© 2025. The Author(s).) |
| Competing Interests: | Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests. |
| References: | Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2016 Sep 12;55(38):11457-61. (PMID: 27513705); Science. 2016 Sep 30;353(6307):. (PMID: 27708075); ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2017 Oct 25;9(42):37136-37145. (PMID: 28920439); Heliyon. 2022 Sep 16;8(9):e10651. (PMID: 36164511) |
| Grant Information: | N00014-24-1-2010 Office of Naval Research; AMTC-20-01-106 DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory |
| Contributed Indexing: | Keywords: Additive manufacturing; Convergent manufacturing; Microwave ceramics; Pressureless sintering; Slurry design |
| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20250313 Latest Revision: 20250315 |
| Update Code: | 20260130 |
| PubMed Central ID: | PMC11904236 |
| DOI: | 10.1038/s41598-025-93139-6 |
| PMID: | 40074788 |
| Database: | MEDLINE |
Journal Article