Journal of the Serbian Chemical Society 2012 Volume 77, Issue 12, Pages: 1775-1785
https://doi.org/10.2298/JSC121018132R
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Effect of cooling rate on the microstructure and porosity of alumina produced by freeze casting
Rodríguez-Parra Jesús M. (Institute of Ceramics and Glass, CSIC, Madrid, Spain)
Moreno Rodrigo (Institute of Ceramics and Glass, CSIC, Madrid, Spain)
Nieto Isabel María (Institute of Ceramics and Glass, CSIC, Madrid, Spain)
Freeze casting is a well-known shaping technique to produce materials with
directional porosity. One of the major problems is the difficulty to control
the cooling rate thus leading to gradients in pore size and homogeneity. This
work deals with the manufacture of alumina ceramics with directional porosity
by freeze casting of aqueous suspensions. An experimental set-up was prepared
in order to apply different cooling rates. Freeze casting tests were done
with an aqueous alumina suspension after optimization of its rheological
behavior. The porosity and microstructural features of sintered bodies
produced under different experimental conditions were studied and analyzed.
It is concluded that the cooling rate influences the microstructure while
final temperature has a much lower influence. Also, the microstructural
analysis shows that there is a gradient in the directionality of pores, being
lower at the bottom and the top and higher in the central region of the
specimens.
Keywords: suspensions, shaping, ceramics, porous materials, alumina, micro-structures