This book contains the proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Surfaces and Interfaces of Ceramic Materials, held on the Oleron island, France, in September 1988. This Institute was organized in nine months after receiving the agreement of the NATO Scientific Affairs Division. Despite this very short time, most of the lecturers contacted have accepted our invitation to prepare a specific talk. The meeting was held at "La Vieille Perrotine" on the Oleron island. This holiday village of the French CNRS is located near the Ocean in a natural area which contributed to create a very pleasant atmosphere favourable to develop interaction between the 91 participants in this Institute. First of all, the Institute was aimed at diffusing the foremost results on the characterization of and the role played by surfaces, grain boundaries and interfaces in preparation and overall properties of ceramic materials, mainly of oxide ceramics. Through its interdisciplinary character, the Institute was also aimed at developing interaction between scientists and engineers interested in basic and practical aspects of processing and use of ceramics.

1: Structure and Microstructure.- Tutorial Lectures.- Electron Spectroscopic Determination of the electronic, Geometric and Chemisorption Properties of Oxide Surfaces.- Structure and Microstructure of Interfaces in Ceramic Materials.- Intergranular Phases in Polycrystalline Ceramics.- Invited Lectures.- Investigation of the Fractal Structure of the Pore-Grain Interface in Alumina Ceramics.- Structure and Properties of Grain Boundary in MgO Bicrystals.- Interfaces in Directionally Solidified Oxide-Oxide Eutectics.- Grain Boundaries in Hexagonal Carbide Ceramics.- Contributed Papers.- Interfaces Between Pigeonite, Clinoamphibole and Augite.- A Vibrational Study of Tetracyanoethylene Adsorbed on Magnesia.- Investigation of Surface Hydroxyls on Cordierite Aerogel By FT-IR Spectroscopy.- FT-IR Characterization of High Surface Area Silicon Nitride and Carbide.- 2: Segregation and Transport Properties.- Tutorial Lectures.- Theory of Dopant Segregation in Ceramic Oxides.- Surface and Grain Boundary Segregation in Metal Oxides.- Surface Diffusion And Surface Energies Of Ceramics with application to the behavior of volatile fission products in ceramic nuclear fuels.- Grain Boundary Diffusion in Ceramics.- Invited Lectures.- Segregation at Ceramic Surfaces and Effects on Mass Transport.- The Role of Grain Boundaries and Interfaces on Superconductivity.- Growth and Mass Transport in Ceramic Type Protective Scales on Metals.- Dynamic Segregation in Multicomponent Oxides Under Chemical Potential Gradients.- Contributed Papers.- Study of Non Stoichiometric Pure and Zr-Doped Yttria Surfaces By X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy.- Segregation in ZrO2-Y2O3 Ceramics.- Microstructural Changes and Dynamic Segregation Near an Interface Formed During the Reduction Of (FE1-x-yCay)O (Extended Abstract).- 3: Ceramic-Metal Interfaces.- Tutorial Lectures.- Thermodynamics and Chemistry Of Ceramic-Metal Interfaces.- Ceramic-Metal Interfaces.- Invited Lectures.- Small Particles and Thin Films Of Metals On Ceramic Oxides.- Modelling Of Metal-Oxide Interface Behaviour During Oxide Scale Growth Controlled by Cation Diffusion.- Contributed Paper.- Interfacial Tension and Contact Angle in Immiscible Systems by Capillary Pressure Measurements (Extended Abstract).- 4: Role Of Surfaces and Interfaces in Elaborating Ceramics Materials.- Tutorial Lectures.- Characterization, Properties and Processing of Ceramic Powders.- Some Current Issues on Polycrystalline Structures and Grain Growth.- Invited Lectures.- The Role of Surfaces in Ceramic Processes.- Some Aspects of the Influence of Particle Size on Properties and Behaviour of a Dielectric Material: Example of Barium Titanate.- Contributed Papers.- Variation with Processing Conditions of Bulk and Grain Boundary PTCR Phenomena in Doped BaTiO3.- Copper-Cordierite Cosintering.- Grain Boundary Phenomena in the Early Stages of Sintering of MO Oxides.- Sintering of Nd2O3 and Ceramic Stability to Hydration.- Control of Carbon-Silicate Interface Area in the Preparation of SiMON Ceramic Precursors from Clays.- Preparation of an Alumina-Zirconia Sol for Producing Microspheres.- 5: Interaction Of Ceramics With Environment.- Tutorial Lectures.- Solid-Gas and Solid-Solid Interactions of Ceramic Oxides at High Temperatures.- Growth of Ceramic Layers from Vapor Phase.- Reactions of Ceramic Oxides with Aqueous Solutions (Including Dissolution).- Invited Lecture.- Dissolution Mechanisms of Oxides and Titanate Ceramics - Electron Microscope and Surface Analytical Studies.- Contributed Papers.- The Role ofGrain Boundary Modifications in the Thermal Decomposition of Mn-Ferrites.- Temptative Modeling of Surface Reactivity with Oxidizing-Reducing Mixtures on Rutile TiO2-? (Extended Abstract).- 6: Properties Related to Surfaces and Interfaces in Specific Ceramic Materials.- Tutorial Lectures.- Nanophase Ceramics, Membranes and Ion Implanted Layers.- Surface Determined Properties of Silicate Glasses.- Importance of Interfacial Strength on Fracture Toughness Of Brittle Matrix Composites.- Invited Lecture.- Precipitation Toughening and Precipitation Hardening in Y2O3-Stabilized ZrO2 Crystals.- Contributed Papers.- Residual Stresses in Porous Plasma-Sprayed Alumina Coating on Titanium Alloy for Medical Application (Extended Abstract).- W-TiN-SiC Material for High Temperature Application.- Colloidal Filtration of Hydrophobic Alumina. Influence of Sedimentation on Filtration Kinetics.