Enhancement in sintering driving force derived from in situ ordered structural collapse of mesoporous powders

In this study, the sintering behaviors of a series of mesoporous silica (FDU‐12, SBA‐15, MCM‐41, and mesoporous silica nanoparticles) and microporous zeolite (ZSM‐5) using spark plasma sintering (SPS) technology were investigated. Highly transparent glass was prepared at a low temperature from all the powders. In particular, FDU‐12 type of mesoporous silica could be fully densified at an ultralow sintering temperature (910°C). It is suggested that the collapse of ordered mesostructures during SPS process dependents on the large pore size/pore wall thickness ratio, appropriate pore arrangement and amorphous frameworks of mesoporous silica, which implies that the enhancement in sinterability is possibly derived from the in situ collapse of ordered mesostructures. Such present findings pave a new way toward the construction of functional dense bulk materials from mesoporous powders.