Viscous sintering

{
  "id": "MLC-T-CHM-012595",
  "term": "Viscous sintering",
  "field": "Chemistry",
  "definition": "A sintering mechanism in which an amorphous material, such as glass powder, a gel or an amorphous polymer, densifies by viscous flow driven by surface tension. Neighbouring particles coalesce and pores shrink because the flow lowers the total surface area. It operates above the glass transition temperature, and in sol-gel processing it is the step that turns a dried gel into a dense glass or ceramic.",
  "synonyms": [
    "viscous flow sintering"
  ],
  "subject": "Polymer",
  "see_also": [
    "sintering"
  ],
  "references": [
    "PAC, 2007, 79, 1801. 'Definitions of terms relating to the structure and processing of sols, gels, networks, and inorganic-organic hybrid materials (IUPAC Recommendations 2007)' on page 1826 (https://doi.org/10.1351/pac200779101801)"
  ],
  "url": "https://mlchart.com/terminology/chemistry/viscous-sintering/"
}