Effect of LiYO₂ on the synthesis and pressureless sintering of Y₂SiO₅

Y₂SiO₅ has potential applications as a high-temperature structural ceramic and environmental/thermal barrier coating. In this work, we synthesized single-phase Y₂SiO₅ powders utilizing a solid–liquid reaction method with LiYO₂ as an additive. The reaction path of the Y₂O₃/SiO₂/LiYO₂ mixture with variation in temperatures and the role of the LiYO₂ additive on preparation process were investigated in detail. The powders obtained by this method have good sinterability. Through a pressureless sintering process, almost fully dense Y₂SiO₅ bulk material was achieved with a very high density of 99.7% theoretical.