Structure and properties of Al2O3-bonded porous fibrous YSZ ceramics fabricated by aqueous gel-casting

To meet requirements for high porosity and high strength, novel aqueous gel-casting process has been successfully developed to fabricate Al₂O₃-bonded porous fibrous YSZ ceramics with ρ-Al₂O₃ and YSZ fibers as raw materials. Microstructure, phase composition, apparent porosity, bulk density, thermal conductivity, and compressive strength of fabricated porous ceramics were investigated, and effects of fiber content on properties were discussed. According to results, bird nest 3D mesh with interlaced YSZ fibers and Al₂O₃ binder was formed, ensuring the ability to obtain high performance, lightweight ceramics. An increase in the number of YSZ fibers led to more complex interlaced arrangement of fibers and denser network structure of porous ceramics at retaining their stability. Furthermore, their apparent porosity and bulk density increased, whereas thermal conductivity and compressive strength decreased with increasing the fiber content. In particular, comparatively high porosity (71.1–72.7%), low thermal conductivity (0.209–0.503 W/mK), and relatively high compressive strength (3.45–4.24 MPa) were obtained for as-prepared porous ceramics, making them promising for applications in filters, thermal insulation materials, and separation membranes.     

A novel way to fabricate highly porous fibrous YSZ ceramics with improved thermal and mechanical properties

Inspired by nest structure, highly porous fibrous yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) ceramics were fabricated through tert-butyl alcohol (TBA)-based gel-casting process and pressureless sintering by using YSZ fibers as raw material and adding K₂SO₄ as removable sintering aid. Different sintering temperature and soaking time were investigated to achieve optimal thermal and mechanical properties. The results show that all specimens consist of crystallized t-YSZ phase. Fibers interconnect with good interfacial bonding on junctions. Under higher sintering temperature, porosity drops gradually while compressive strength increases significantly. With prolonged soaking time, there is no obvious change in porosity and compressive strength increases gradually. All specimens have uniformly distributed pores with average size of 30.2 μm and show good structural stability at high temperature. Ultra-low thermal conductivity is achieved and ductile fracture mode with high elongation makes it more applicable in high-temperature thermal insulating applications.     

Porous YSZ Ceramics Reinforced by Different Kinds of Fibers

Porous YSZ ceramics reinforced by different fibers were prepared by gel‐casting with 15% solid content and pressureless sintering. The four kinds of fibers (mullite, aluminosilicate, Al₂O₃, and YSZ fibers) were added into the YSZ ceramics with the same 10% vol content. After sintered at 1500°C for 2 h, aluminosilicate and mullite fibers could not be found in the samples of porous YSZ ceramics, which showed they reacted with YSZ ceramics at high temperature, while YSZ and Al₂O₃ fibers still kept perfect after sintering. Furthermore, the influences of fiber content, sintering temperature, porosity of matrix materials on compressive strength and porosity of the porous YSZ ceramics were studied. The results showed that Al₂O₃ fiber showed more obvious reinforcing effect than YSZ fiber on porous YSZ ceramics. The fiber‐reinforcing effects depend on fiber content, sintering temperature, and porosity of matrix materials. The fiber addition can improve the shrinkage behavior of porous ceramics during sintering and strengthen the skeleton of porous ceramics.     

Porous fibrous ZrO2-mullite ceramics prepared via tert-butyl alcohol-based gel-casting

Mullite fiber was used to fabricate ZrO₂-mullite based porous ceramic via tert-butyl alcohol (TBA)-based gel-casting process using zirconite and bauxite as raw materials. Phase compositions, microstructure, pore size distribution, linear shrinkage, bulk density, apparent porosity, thermal conductivity, and compressive strength were analyzed to investigate influences of mullite fiber content and added Y₂O₃ on prepared porous ceramics. Results show that bird nest-like three-dimensional fibrous reticular skeleton structure was constructed with mullite fibers that evenly enwrapped rod-like mullite and ZrO₂ grains. Prepared porous fibrous ZrO₂-mullite ceramics had narrow pore size distribution that consisted of mullite and m-ZrO₂. With an increase in mullite fiber content, linear shrinkage and bulk density decreased, apparent porosity increased, and relatively good thermal conductivity was obtained. In addition, added Y₂O₃ reacted with Al₂O₃ and SiO₂ to form Y-Al-Si-O glass phase, which promoted sintering and densification of the ceramic, thus improving its compressive strength.     

Preparation and properties of mullite-bonded porous fibrous mullite ceramics by an epoxy resin gel-casting process

Porous fibrous mullite ceramics with a narrow range of pore size distribution have been successfully prepared utilizing a near net-shape epoxy resin gel-casting process by using mullite fibers, Al₂O₃ and SiC as raw materials. The effects of sintering temperatures, different amounts of fibers and Y₂O₃ additive on the phase compositions, linear shrinkage, apparent porosity, bulk density, microstructure, compressive strength and thermal conductivity were investigated. The results indicated that mullite-bonded among fibers were formed in the porous fibrous mullite ceramics with a bird nest pore structure. After determining the sintering temperatures and the amount of fibers, the tailored porous fibrous mullite ceramics had a low linear shrinkage (1.36–3.08%), a high apparent porosity (61.1–71.7%), a relatively high compressive strength (4.4–7.6 MPa), a low thermal conductivity (0.378–0.467 W/m K) and a narrow range of pore size distribution (around 5 µm). The excellent properties will enable the porous ceramics as a promising candidate for the applications of hot gas filters, thermal insulation materials at high temperatures.     

Preparation and properties of porous ceramics from nickel slag by aerogel gelcasting

To further resource industrial solid waste, porous ceramics with high porosity were prepared by a gelcasting method using nickel slag and kaolin as raw materials and hydrophilic nontoxic SiO₂ aerogel as a gelling agent. The effects of nickel slag content, dispersant and solid content on the properties and microstructure of porous ceramics were investigated in detail in terms of density, compressive strength, porosity, phase composition and micromorphology. The results confirmed that a certain amount of nickel slag can effectively improve the porosity of porous ceramics, while the addition of dispersant can promote the flow of the slurry, enhanced the denseness of the raw billet and significantly improved the compressive strength. However, its excessive use had a negative effect on the ceramic density and porosity. At the same time, the solid content played a key role in the performance of porous ceramics prepared by gelcasting, and too much solid content was also not conducive to the generation of pores. When the nickel slag content was 55%, the amount of dispersant was 2%, and the solid content was 60 vol%, the porous ceramic had a better overall performance, the density of the porous ceramic was 510 kg/m³, the compressive strength was 1.3 MPa, and the porosity reached 80.1%. The major crystalline phases of porous ceramics prepared by nickel slag were cordierite and anorthite.     

Hierarchical Structure of Porous Silicon Nitride Ceramics with Aligned Pore Channels Prepared by Ice‐Templating and Nitridation of Silicon Powder

A unique hierarchical porous structure of silicon nitride ceramic with 76.5% porosity is fabricated by combining an ice‐templating method and nitridation for a silicon powder. The porous silicon nitride ceramics were composed of a lamellar structure with aligned pore channels and ceramic walls filled with fibrous whiskers. This study is focused on the influences of freezing rate on the microstructures and properties of the silicon nitride ceramics. The properties were characterized by compressive strength and gas permeability, which were shown to vary with controlled microstructure. The compressive strength and the permeability reached up to 32.2 MPa and 0.035^?12 m², respectively.     

Preparation and properties of high-porosity ZrB2-SiC ceramics by water-based freeze casting

The development of novel cermet composites based on porous ceramics with high porosity, interconnected pore structure and good mechanical property has attracted considerable attention in engineering application. In this work, water-based freeze casting process was employed to fabricate ZrB₂-SiC porous ceramic with aligned lamellar-channels structure using PAA-NH₄ as the dispersant. The results revealed that the well-dispersed suspension with best rheological behavior was obtained using 1.0 wt% PAA-NH₄ at pH 9. The crack-free porous ceramic exhibited small volume shrinkage ranging from 2.59 % to 1.87 %. By varying the solid loading, the fabricated samples displayed a tailored porosity ranging from 76.12% to 59.37% and an excellent compressive strength of 7 MPa to 78 MPa. After oxidation, the samples displayed a decreased porosity and an increased compressive strength. The ZrB₂­SiC porous ceramic fabricated in this work will be a promising candidate for the framework of cermet composite.     

Effect of alumina fiber content on pore structure and properties of porous ceramics

Porous Al₂O₃ ceramics with different contents of alumina fibers were prepared by gel-casting process. The effects of Al₂O₃ fiber content on pore size distribution, porosity, compressive strength, and load-displacement behavior of the ceramic materials were investigated. Initial results showed that with the increase of Al₂O₃ fiber content, the pore size and porosity of the material is increased, and the compressive strength is decreased. However, upon increasing the fiber content from 50 wt% to 67 wt%, the performance of the samples changed greatly. The compressive strength of the material increased, while the porosity remained unchanged, the pore size increased greatly, and the shape of the load displacement curve changed. It showed that when the fiber content increased from 50 wt% to 67 wt%, the loading body in the fiber-reinforced porous ceramics changed from particles to fibers.     

Improved Heat Insulation and Mechanical Properties of Highly Porous YSZ Ceramics After Silica Aerogels Impregnation

To further improve heat insulation and mechanical properties, silica aerogels were impregnated into highly porous yttria‐stabilized zirconia (YSZ) ceramics with well‐distributed pores fabricated by tert‐butyl alcohol ‐based gel‐casting process and pressureless sintering. Pore size distribution, room‐temperature thermal conductivities, and compressive strength of the YSZ ceramics before and after impregnation with silica aerogels were examined and compared, respectively. After impregnating porous YSZ ceramics with silica aerogels, the porosity displayed a little decrease, whereas the pore size significantly decreased by one order of magnitude. Based on this microstructure development, the room‐temperature thermal conductivities were significantly lowered and the compressive strength was also promoted. Therefore, the heat insulation and mechanical properties could be simultaneously improved by impregnating porous ceramics with silica aerogels.     

Effect of K2SO4 additions on properties of porous fibrous alumina ceramics prepared by DCC and lost‐mold method

Flawless porous fibrous alumina ceramics with high performance were fabricated via a novel approach involving direct coagulation casting and lost‐mold method. Stable alumina suspensions were prepared by adding sodium tri‐polyphosphate as dispersant using alumina fibers as raw material and K₂SO₄ as sintering aid. Resin‐coated sand molds with designed shapes for suspension casting were fabricated through 3D printing with subsequent post‐treatments. Alumina green bodies were obtained by in situ coagulation of the suspension after treating at 90°C within 40 minutes. Porous alumina ceramics were obtained after direct furnace sintering of green bodies without demolding, in which the molds would collapse automatically at around 650°C with less exhaust emission. The effect of various K₂SO₄ contents and sintering temperatures on mechanical properties of porous ceramics was investigated. The SEM results showed that the fibers interconnected with obvious interfacial bondings on junctions when sintered at 1450°C. The XRD patterns showed that the sample sintered with various K₂SO₄ additions consisted of different phases, mainly including aluminosilicates. Porosity of ceramic samples increased slightly whereas the compressive strength enhanced significantly with increasing K₂SO₄ addition. The density of sintered samples with different K₂SO₄ contents was in accord with the porosity variation tendency. The ceramic samples had uniform pore size distribution with average size from 3.18 to 7.24 μm as increasing K₂SO₄ addition to 40 wt%. This approach may provide a convenient and general route to fabricate various dense and porous advanced ceramics with complex shapes and good composition homogeneity.     

Transient liquid phase diffusion process for porous mullite ceramics with excellent mechanical properties

Porous mullite ceramics were fabricated by the transient liquid phase diffusion process, using quartz and fly-ash floating bead (FABA) particles and corundum fines as starting materials. The effects of sintering temperatures on the evolution of phase composition and microstructure, linear shrinkage, porosity and compressive strength of ceramics were investigated. It is found that a large amount of quartz and FABA particles can be transformed into SiO₂-rich liquid phase during the sintering process, and the liquid phase is transient in the Al₂O₃-SiO₂ system, which can accelerate the mullitization rate and promote the growth of mullite grains. A large number of closed pores in the mullite ceramics are formed due to the transient liquid phase diffusion at elevated temperatures. The porous mullite ceramics with high closed porosity (about 30%) and excellent compressive strength (maximum 105?MPa) have been obtained after fried at 1700?°C.     

A novel way to fabricate fibrous mullite ceramic using sol-gel vacuum impregnation

Inspired by bird's nest structure, fibrous mullite ceramic was fabricated by vacuum impregnation with mullite fibers as raw material and zirconia sol-gel as inorganic binder. The effect of impregnation times on the properties of the fibrous mullite ceramic, such as porosity, microstructure, compressive strength and room-temperature thermal conductivity were investigated. The results showed that low density (0.45–0.66?g/cm³), relative high compressive strength (0.62–3.34?MPa) and low thermal conductivity (0.037–0.125?W/mk) were exhibited for the sample. The toughness of fibrous mullite ceramic was enhanced due to the micro-creaks caused by transformation of zirconia. From the experimental results, it is suggested that it was an optimal method which have the potential use in high-temperature thermal insulation materials to produce fibrous mullite ceramics.     

A new Al2O3 porous ceramic prepared by addition of hollow spheres

A method for making porous ceramic prepared by adding hollow spheres was developed, and the resulting porous ceramic was named as hollow spheres ceramic. Water soluble epoxy resin was used as a gel former in the gelcasting process of the Al₂O₃ hollow sphere and Al₂O₃ powder, the porous ceramic porosity varies from 22.3 to 60.1 %. The influence of amount of Al₂O₃ hollow sphere and sintering temperature on the microstructure, compressive strength and thermal conductivity were investigated. With an increasing amount of hollow sphere in the matrix, the porosity increases, which leads to decreased bulk density, compressive strength and thermal conductivity. The compressive strength of the porous ceramics has a power law relation with the porosity, and the calculated power law index is 4.5. The equations of the relationship between porosity and thermal conductivity of porous ceramics are proposed. The thermal conductivity of samples with 60.1 % porosity is as low as 2.1 W/m k at room temperature.     

梯度多孔载Ag羟基磷灰石陶瓷的制备和性能研究

本文采用添加造孔剂法制备孔隙呈现梯度分布的多孔载Ag羟基磷灰石(Ag-HA)陶瓷.研究了造孔剂分布、烧结温度和载Ag含量对梯度多孔Ag-HA陶瓷孔隙度的影响.分析了烧结产物的物相组成和微观形貌,测量了烧结后梯度多孔Ag-HA陶瓷的压缩性能和抗菌性能.研究结果表明:随着中间层造孔剂含量增加,梯度多孔Ag-HA陶瓷的孔隙度...     

Highly porous YSZ ceramic foams using hollow spheres with holes in their shell for high-performance thermal insulation

Yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) porous ceramic foams were fabricated using YSZ microspheres with holes on the surface to determine their properties as insulation materials. Highly porous YSZ ceramics with bimodal pore structures, such as internal pores in single hollow spheres and external pores between the spheres, were successfully prepared using YSZ spheres as raw materials. Additionally, holes were added to the shells to reduce continuous thermal pathways and significantly enhance the insulation properties. Furthermore, by adding holes on the surface of the sphere, the porous foams using a hollow sphere exhibit a maximized porosity of 80.69%, remarkably enhanced their insulation properties with low thermal conductivity (0.10 W/m-K), and have sufficient compressive strength to protect the green body (5.7 MPa). The mechanical strength of the YSZ porous foam was maintained owing to the uniform arrangement of the supports.     

Effect of sintering temperature on compressive strength of porous yttria-stabilized zirconia ceramics

Porous yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) ceramics were fabricated by tert-butyl alcohol (TBA)-based gel-casting method for potential applications in heat-insulation materials. The effect of sintering temperature on compressive strength of porous YSZ ceramics was investigated on the basis of measurements linear shrinkage, porosity and pore size. As the sintering temperature increased from 1350 to 1550 °C, a decrease of porosity from 77 to 65%, a decrease of average pore size from and an increase of linear shrinkage from 15.4 to 31.8% were observed. The compressive strength increased remarkably from 3 to 27 MPa with increasing sintering temperature from 1350 to 1550 °C, which was related to the corresponding change of linear shrinkage, porosity, pore size and microstructure. A remarkable decrease of compressive strength with increasing porosity was observed. The compressive strength decreased also with increasing pore size.     

Effect of mullite phase formed in situ on pore structure and properties of high-purity mullite fibrous ceramics

Porous mullite ceramics are potential advanced thermal insulating materials. Pore structure and purity are the main factors that affect properties of these ceramics. In this study, high performance porous mullite ceramics were prepared via aqueous gel-casting using mullite fibers and kaolin as the raw materials and ρ-Al₂O₃ as the gelling agent. Effects of addition of mullite fibers on the pore structure and properties were examined. The results indicated that mullite phase in situ formed by kaolin, and ρ-Al₂O₃ ensured the purity of mullite samples and mullite fibers bonded together to form a nest-like structure, greatly improving the properties of ceramic samples. In particular, the apparent porosity of mullite samples reached 73.6%. In the presence of 75% of mullite fibers, the thermal conductivity was only 0.289 W/m K at room temperature. Moreover, the mullite samples possessed relatively high cold compressive strength in the range of 4.9–9.6 MPa. Therefore, porous mullite ceramics prepared via aqueous gel-casting could be used for wide applications in thermal insulation materials, attributing to the excellent properties such as high cold compressive strength and low thermal conductivity.     

Properties of Microstructure-Controllable Porous Yttria-Stabilized Ziroconia Ceramics Fabricated by Freeze Casting

Porous yttria-stabilized ziroconia (YSZ) ceramics were fabricated by freeze casting using aqueous ceramic slurries. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) was added to the slurry with the aim of controling the microstructures and properties of the porous YSZ ceramics. The experimental results indicated that the large and noninterconnected lamellar pores of YSZ ceramics without PVA transformed changed into small and interconnected lamellar pores with PVA addition. The porosities of YSZ ceramics with PVA addition were higher than those of YSZ ceramics without PVA addition. The compressive strength of porous YSZ ceramics is the range from 23.57 to 63.86 MPa. All specimens exhibit noncatastrophic failure behaviors.     

Mechanical and dielectric properties of porous magnesium aluminate (MgAl2O4) spinel ceramics fabricated by direct foaming-gelcasting

Porous ceramic materials have been broadly applied in various fields due to their multifunctional properties. Optimization of their microstructural characteristics, such as pore morphology, total porosity, and pore size distribution, which determine various properties of the final products, is crucial to improve their performances and thus extend their applications. In this study, single-phase porous MgAl₂O₄ materials were fabricated by direct foaming–gelcasting. With an increase in the foam volume from 260 to 350 mL, the total porosity and pore size of the porous ceramic increased, and its microstructure varied from mostly closed cells to open cells containing interconnected large pores (40–155 μm) and small circular windows (10–40 μm) in the ceramic skeleton. The total porosity could be tailored from 84.91% to 76.08% by modulating the sintering temperature and foam volume and the corresponding compressive strengths were in the range of 2.8–15.0 MPa. The compressive strength exhibited a power-law relationship with the relative density with indices of approximately 3.409 and 3.439, respectively. Porous MgAl₂O₄ ceramics exhibited low dielectric constants in the range of 1.618–1.910 at room temperature, which are well matched with theoretical calculations on account of a modified Bruggeman model. The porous MgAl₂O₄ ceramics with good mechanical and dielectric properties controlled easily by various sintering temperatures and foam volumes are promising for practical applications.