Isothermal compressibility and isobaric thermal shrinkage of a porous α-alumina compact: thermodynamic calculations

Two methods were proposed to calculate the thermodynamic parameters of porous ceramic compacts depending on their molar volume change with applied pressure and heating temperature, respectively. Molar volume of the porous α-alumina (α-Al(2)O(3)) compact was evaluated according to literature depending on both the applied pressure at room temperature and the heating temperature at atmospheric pressure. The isothermal compressibility coefficient, Gibbs energy, and work done on the compact by compression were calculated. The thermal shrinkage coefficient and activation energy as well as the change in enthalpy, entropy and Gibbs energy were calculated for partial sintering. The spontaneous nature of the treatments were discussed with respect to the obtained results.