Novel Method To Optimize the Structure of Reticulated Porous Ceramics

A novel method has been developed for the fabrication of silicon nitride reticulated porous ceramics (RPCs) with regulated structure, using polyurethane sponge as the template. This technique includes two centrifuging steps. In the first stage, the polyurethane sponges are coated with thin slurry through high-speed centrifuging. After the slurry on sponges dried, a high-strength green body without filled cells is obtained. In the second stage, because of improved adhesion between the body and the slurry after the first coating, the body with uniformly thick strut is produced by recoating the as-prepared green body with thixotropic slurry and centrifuging again. The loading content of slurry and the pore diameter of the RPCs body greatly depend on the slurry viscosity in the process of recoating. The strut diameter and pore diameter of the RPCs are effectively optimized by modulating the slurry viscosity.