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My journey into ceramics started in my second to last year of high school, where I attended the Ceramic Engineering Camp at Alfred University. After that, it was basically history! I went there for my Bachelor of Science in Ceramic Engineering and then moved on to UC San Diego to start my Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering, focusing on oxide materials.

My Ph.D. began with my blooming interest in ceramic materials used in electronics, which I initially had experience with during several internships and my senior thesis at Alfred University before going to UC San Diego. The more I read, I realized the push for lead-free options in these applications is imminent because of policy reform moving across Europe and the United States too for health and environmental reasons.

The goal for my dissertation is to establish processing techniques to synthesize bismuth ferrite (BFO) with a cubic morphology despite its rhombohedral crystal structure so it may exhibit better electrical properties than non-morphology-controlled specimens. BFO has fairly high Curie and Neel temperatures, which allows it to be used over a wide temperature range and the morphology can be tuned easily if the right conditions are met. There were so  many articles already published on synthesis, sintering, and characterization, but not many studies containing processing and how that can be improved to be an adequate replacement for lead-based products.

Once I began the experimentation and hydrothermally synthesizing BFO, I realized there was a true knowledge gap in the reproducibility of BFO. The challenge was to maintain the purity of the BFO powder and produce it in the distinct cubic morphology. The morphology control is well understood and reported in literature, but the purification process was not. Later, we implemented an intermediate washing procedure to eradicate one of the two unwanted phases from the BFO synthesis process, and then eliminated the second unwanted phase using an acid washing procedure that was novelly developed using process of elimination with X-ray diffraction, Scanning Electron Microscopy, and Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectroscopy, which is under review now to publication.

The reproducibility of this synthesis process is a great step forward in the production of BFO and use in electronic devices. Later, these cubic powders will be consolidated using spark plasma sintering and electrically characterized and making comparisons between that and non-morphology controlled BFO powder. The study is expected to conclude in the next 18 months or less.

Jenna Metera, PhD Candidate

Program in Materials Science and Engineering

University of California, San Diego

La Jolla, California, United States

Chair, American Society of Materials - San Diego Chapter

jennametera@gmail.com

SEM image of pure, morphology-controlled BFO powder