  DC flash sintering of both pure and 0.5 mol. % Bi2O3-doped ZnO at a
relatively high activating field of 300 V/cm has been investigated. It is
demonstrated that even high-purity ZnO single crystals can "flash" at 870C. In
comparison, flash sintering occurs at a substantially lower onset temperature
of 550C in ZnO powder specimens, indicating the important roles of surfaces
and/or grain boundaries. A model has been developed to forecast the thermal
runaway conditions and the predictions are in excellent agreements with the
observed onset flash temperatures, attesting that the flash starts as a thermal
runaway in at least these ZnO based systems. Interestingly, enhanced grain
growth is observed at the anode side of the pure ZnO specimens with an abrupt
change in the grain sizes, indicating the occurrence of
electric-potential-induced abnormal grain growth. With a large current density,
the growth of aligned hexagonal single-crystalline rods toward the anode
direction is evident in the ZnO powder specimen. Moreover, Bi2O3 doping defers
the onset of flash sintering, which can be explained from the formation of
space charges at grain boundaries, and it homogenizes the microstructure due to
a liquid-phase sintering effect. The key scientific contributions of this study
include the development of a model to predict the thermal runaway conditions
that are coincident with the observed onset flash sintering temperatures, the
clarification of how flash starts in ZnO based specimens, and the observation
and explanation of diversifying phenomena of sintering and microstructural
development under applied electric currents.
