Patent 7419527 was granted and assigned to Particle Sciences on September, 2008 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Novel powders or particles are formed by associating them with relatively small proportions of hydrolysable liquid material. The resulting particle/liquid mass is placed in a mold and sintered under conditions of heat and pressure that enables at least some of the hydrolysable liquid to react within the sintered mass. The sintered mass displays a controllable range of properties such as increased density, increased tensile strength, and improved natural polish finish. The hydrolysable liquid may partially hydrolyze and/or react with the powders and particles, but the liquid is not completely (not 100%) reduced to an inorganic oxide prior to introduction to the mold and performance of the sintering process.