Instead of melting the entire mass of a ceramic powder, flash sintering employs an electric field to selectively heat the grain boundaries. Pre-heating the grain boundaries with an electric field allows sintering of yttria-stabilized zirconia at 800 degrees Celsius (C) for less than a second, instead of the conventional 1450 C for four to five hours. This creates a stronger nonporous ceramic. Isn't this the greatest leap in ceramics since our ancestors started baking pots!

Faster, More Efficient Technique for Creating High-Density Ceramics