Zuhair A. Munir is a Distinguished Professor of Materials Science at the University of California, Davis. He received his B.S., M.S., and PhD from the University of California, Berkeley. He has served as Associate Dean and as Dean of the College of Engineering. Professor Munir has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the John Jeppson Award from the American Ceramic Society, The Faculty Research Award and Medal form UC Davis, the Medal of Honor form the International Organization of SHS, the Creativity in Research Award from the National Science Foundation, and the von Humboldt Award from Germany. He is listed as a Highly Cited Author in Materials Science by the Institute for Scientific Information. Professor Munir is a Fellow of the American Ceramic Society and the American Society for Metals. He is currently an Editor for the Journal of Materials Science and an Associate Editor for the Journal of the American Ceramic Society and has served as Editor-in-chief for the Journal of Materials Synthesis and Processing and as a Principal Editor for the Journal of Materials Research. Professor Munir is the author of more than 400 papers and 12 patents.

• Preface ixIntroduction xiSYNTHESIS AND PROCESSING BY THE SPARK PLASMA METHODSimulation of Contact Resistances Influence on Temperature Distribution during SPS Experiments 3A. Cincotti, A. M. Locci, R. Orrù, and G. CaoSpark-Plasma-Sintering (SPS) Processsing of High Strength Transparent MgAI204 Spinel Polycrystals 19Koji Morita, Byung-Nam Kim, Hidehiro Yoshida, and Keijiro HiragaConsolidation of Carbon with Amorphous-Graphite Transformation by SPS 31Naoki Toyofuku, Megumi Nishimoto, Kazuki Arayama, Yasuhiro Kodera, Manshi Ohyanagi, and Zuhair A. MunirSpark Plasma Sintering of Nanostructured Ceramic Materials with Potential Magnetoelectricity 41C. Correas, R. Jiménez, T. Hungría, H. Amorin, J. Ricote, E. Vila, M. Algueró, A. Castro, and J. GalySintering and Properties of Nanometric Functional Oxides 55Dat V. Quach, Sangtae Kim, Manfred Martin, and Zuhair A. MunirSpark Plasma Sintering Mechanisms in Si3N4-Based Materials 63M. Belmonte, J. Gonzalez-Julian, P. Miranzo, and M.I. OsendiConsolidation of SiC with BN through MA-SPS Method 71Yasuhiro Kodera, Naoki Toyofuku, Ryousuke Shirai, Manshi Ohyanagi, and Zuhair A. MunirFabrication of Dense Zr-, Hf- and Ta-Based Ultra High Temperature Ceramics by Combining Self-Propagating High-Temperature Synthesis and Spark Plasma Sintering 81Roberta Licheri, Roberto Orrù, Clara Musa, Antonio Mario Locci, and Giacomo CaoNOVEL, GREEN, AND STRATEGIC PROCESSINGMicrowave Sintering of Mullite and Mullite-Zirconia Composites 95Subhadip Bodhak, Susmita Bose, and Amit BandyopadhyayIdle Time and Gelation Behavior in Gelcasting Process of PSZ in Acrylamide System 105Nasim Sahraei Khanghah and Mohammad-Ali Faghihi-SaniCharacterization of the Mesoporous Amorphous Silica in the Fresh Water Sponge Cauxi 115Ralf Keding, Martin Jensen, and Yuanzheng YueNovel Chemistry-Modification Approach for Synthesis of SiAION from Fly Ash 131J. P. Kelly, J. R. Varner, W. M. Carty, and V. R. AmarakoonPatterning of Closed Pores Utilizing the Superplastically Foaming Method 143A. Kishimoto, Y. Nishino, and H. HayashiThe Research of Materials Life Cycle Assessment 153ZuoRen Nie, Feng Gao, XianZheng Gong, ZhiHong Wang, and TieYong ZuoModeling Dual and MgO Saturated EAF Slag Chemistry 167Kyei-Sing Kwong, James Bennett, Rick Krabbe, Art Petty, and Hugh ThomasADVANCED POWDER PROCESSINGAqueous Processing of TiC Preforms for Advanced Cermet Preparation 181R. Bradley Collier and Kevin P. PlucknetThe Effect of Precipitator Types on the Synthesis of La2Zr207 Powders by Chemical Coprecipitation Method 189Jing Wang, Shuxin Bai, Hong Zhang, and Changrui ZhangThe Study of Prepration of Blue V-Zircon Pigment by Using Zircon and Sulphuric Acid 197M. Riahi and M.A. Faghihi SaniPreparation of Blue-Ceramic Pigments by Reaction Bonding 207Enrique Rocha-Rangel, Imelda Villanueva-Baltazar, Lucia Téllez-Jurado, and Elizabeth Refugio-GarcíaColloidal Characterization and Aqueous Gel Casting of Barium Titanate Ceramics 215Cameron D. Munro and Kevin P. PlucknettDispersion and Fluidity of Aqueous Aluminium Titanate Slurry by Addition of Titanate Aqueous Solution 227Seizo Obata, Yoshiyuki Iwata, Hisanori Yokoyama, Osamu Sakurada, Minoru Hashiba, and Yasutaka TakahashiAuthor Index 235

Zuhair A. Munir is a Distinguished Professor of Materials Science at the University of California, Davis. He received his B.S., M.S., and PhD from the University of California, Berkeley. He has served as Associate Dean and as Dean of the College of Engineering. Professor Munir has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the John Jeppson Award from the American Ceramic Society, The Faculty Research Award and Medal form UC Davis, the Medal of Honor form the International Organization of SHS, the Creativity in Research Award from the National Science Foundation, and the von Humboldt Award from Germany. He is listed as a Highly Cited Author in Materials Science by the Institute for Scientific Information. Professor Munir is a Fellow of the American Ceramic Society and the American Society for Metals. He is currently an Editor for the Journal of Materials Science and an Associate Editor for the Journal of the American Ceramic Society and has served as Editor-in-chief for the Journal of Materials Synthesis and Processing and as a Principal Editor for the Journal of Materials Research. Professor Munir is the author of more than 400 papers and 12 patents.

• Preface ixIntroduction xiSYNTHESIS AND PROCESSING BY THE SPARK PLASMA METHODSimulation of Contact Resistances Influence on Temperature Distribution during SPS Experiments 3A. Cincotti, A. M. Locci, R. Orrù, and G. CaoSpark-Plasma-Sintering (SPS) Processsing of High Strength Transparent MgAI204 Spinel Polycrystals 19Koji Morita, Byung-Nam Kim, Hidehiro Yoshida, and Keijiro HiragaConsolidation of Carbon with Amorphous-Graphite Transformation by SPS 31Naoki Toyofuku, Megumi Nishimoto, Kazuki Arayama, Yasuhiro Kodera, Manshi Ohyanagi, and Zuhair A. MunirSpark Plasma Sintering of Nanostructured Ceramic Materials with Potential Magnetoelectricity 41C. Correas, R. Jiménez, T. Hungría, H. Amorin, J. Ricote, E. Vila, M. Algueró, A. Castro, and J. GalySintering and Properties of Nanometric Functional Oxides 55Dat V. Quach, Sangtae Kim, Manfred Martin, and Zuhair A. MunirSpark Plasma Sintering Mechanisms in Si3N4-Based Materials 63M. Belmonte, J. Gonzalez-Julian, P. Miranzo, and M.I. OsendiConsolidation of SiC with BN through MA-SPS Method 71Yasuhiro Kodera, Naoki Toyofuku, Ryousuke Shirai, Manshi Ohyanagi, and Zuhair A. MunirFabrication of Dense Zr-, Hf- and Ta-Based Ultra High Temperature Ceramics by Combining Self-Propagating High-Temperature Synthesis and Spark Plasma Sintering 81Roberta Licheri, Roberto Orrù, Clara Musa, Antonio Mario Locci, and Giacomo CaoNOVEL, GREEN, AND STRATEGIC PROCESSINGMicrowave Sintering of Mullite and Mullite-Zirconia Composites 95Subhadip Bodhak, Susmita Bose, and Amit BandyopadhyayIdle Time and Gelation Behavior in Gelcasting Process of PSZ in Acrylamide System 105Nasim Sahraei Khanghah and Mohammad-Ali Faghihi-SaniCharacterization of the Mesoporous Amorphous Silica in the Fresh Water Sponge Cauxi 115Ralf Keding, Martin Jensen, and Yuanzheng YueNovel Chemistry-Modification Approach for Synthesis of SiAION from Fly Ash 131J. P. Kelly, J. R. Varner, W. M. Carty, and V. R. AmarakoonPatterning of Closed Pores Utilizing the Superplastically Foaming Method 143A. Kishimoto, Y. Nishino, and H. HayashiThe Research of Materials Life Cycle Assessment 153ZuoRen Nie, Feng Gao, XianZheng Gong, ZhiHong Wang, and TieYong ZuoModeling Dual and MgO Saturated EAF Slag Chemistry 167Kyei-Sing Kwong, James Bennett, Rick Krabbe, Art Petty, and Hugh ThomasADVANCED POWDER PROCESSINGAqueous Processing of TiC Preforms for Advanced Cermet Preparation 181R. Bradley Collier and Kevin P. PlucknetThe Effect of Precipitator Types on the Synthesis of La2Zr207 Powders by Chemical Coprecipitation Method 189Jing Wang, Shuxin Bai, Hong Zhang, and Changrui ZhangThe Study of Prepration of Blue V-Zircon Pigment by Using Zircon and Sulphuric Acid 197M. Riahi and M.A. Faghihi SaniPreparation of Blue-Ceramic Pigments by Reaction Bonding 207Enrique Rocha-Rangel, Imelda Villanueva-Baltazar, Lucia Téllez-Jurado, and Elizabeth Refugio-GarcíaColloidal Characterization and Aqueous Gel Casting of Barium Titanate Ceramics 215Cameron D. Munro and Kevin P. PlucknettDispersion and Fluidity of Aqueous Aluminium Titanate Slurry by Addition of Titanate Aqueous Solution 227Seizo Obata, Yoshiyuki Iwata, Hisanori Yokoyama, Osamu Sakurada, Minoru Hashiba, and Yasutaka TakahashiAuthor Index 235