The 3 winners of this photo contest are :
- Christian Bechteler for his micrograph “Petronas Towers”. Description : Silicon based crystals grown in an Argon plasma during field assisted sintering (flash sintering) of Silicon Carbide.
- Isabela Reis Lavagnini for her picture “Dandelion-like structures of hydroxyapatite/zirconia composite materials via Flash Sintering”. Description : In this micrograph, one can observe the beautiful recrystallization of hydroxyapatite in the dandelion-like crystals. This unique shape was obtained when an electric field was applied during the sintering of the composite, which led to a thermal runaway event (Flash Sintering). This is the first time that a dandelion-shaped crystalline structure has been observed in flash sintered specimens. This crystals structure exhibits special surface characteristics and has a high surface area. Thus, this morphology may open a new window for potential applications to this material.
- Ana Castellanos-Aliaga and David G. Calatayud for their micrograph “Vertical Micro-garden”. Description : SEM micrograph of a Zn film fully oxidized in presence of oxygen. Exhaustive control of the heat treatment conditions results in a capricious distribution of ZnO flakes.
