A recent development trend in microwave radiation-based material engineering

The advancement of science and technology requires simple, easy-to-control, cheap, fast, and eco-friendly technologies for material synthesis, modification, and processing. Microwave technology provides an alternative due to its well-known characteristics such as selective heating, fast heating, reproducibility, flexible controls (via time, power, and frequency), high energy efficiency, and easy temperature control. In microwave-based material processing, a direct molecular interaction between electromagnetic energy and the material takes place and causes complex volumetric heating which is one of the technical challenges in material science development. This makes microwave energy one of the most important future resources for material processing. In this review, the importance and the uses of microwave technology primarily for material synthesis and modification that are abreast of recent advances will be summarized.