Next-Generation SPS Materials Project
Joint research with Prof. Yoshihisa Mori (Okayama Univ. of Science): a benchtop ultra-high-pressure SPS.
Overview
The Next-Generation SPS Materials Project is a joint research effort between Space Seed Holdings and Professor Yoshihisa Mori of Okayama University of Science. By developing a benchtop-scale next-generation SPS device that enables sintering far beyond the pressure limits of conventional Spark Plasma Sintering, the project aims to develop advanced materials at high throughput and bring them into society.
Direction
- An ultra-high-pressure SPS platform: We aim to establish an Ultra-High-Pressure Spark Plasma Sintering (UHP-SPS) platform that integrates a Palm-type cubic anvil with SPS, combining anvils that apply pressure evenly from three axes with electrical-current sintering.
- Exploring new materials: The scope includes functional materials such as superhard materials, transparent ceramics and semiconductor materials. Synthesis of hard materials from bio-derived feedstock, and lightweight high-strength materials envisaged for use in space or on the Moon, are considered as future application images.
- Distributed research through benchtop design: Modularising the device to a benchtop scale supports high-throughput materials development across multiple sites.
Recent focus
The research results were presented in a poster at the 29th International Conference on High Pressure Science and Technology (AIRAPT-29). Under low-temperature conditions of 2.4 GPa and about 600°C, a large-area, highly uniform transparent sintered body was successfully synthesised from amorphous SiO₂ powder, demonstrating the effectiveness of the UHP-SPS platform.