RESEARCH INTERESTS

Dr. Sellar's research centres at present on the relationship between the microstructure and engineering properties of stabilized zirconia (Zr0₂) alloys, both topics of considerable controversy and industrial importance. His interest was stimulated by former membership of the ICI Australia team which won the Australian Ceramics Society Achievement Award for research culminating in the launch of ICI's international advanced ceramics business, based on zirconia.

The electron microscope is Dr. Sellar's chief 'tool of trade', but recourse to other techniques and modern developments in thermodynamics is often necessary in order to understand the remarkable variety of behaviour of zirconia, found in ceramic alloys. They are, for example, the toughest and hardest of the oxide structural ceramic materials and are able to withstand very severe industrial environments, with properties somewhat like steel. Although extremely resistant to the passage of heat and electricity, they are also able to conduct oxygen ions for applications such as fuel cells and exhaust emission sensors.

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