Growth of Alumina/Metal Composites into Porous Ceramics by the Oxidation of Aluminum

Alumina/metal composites were grown into the pores of porous alumina, porous aluminosilicate, and porous silicon carbide substrates through the oxidation of Al–Si (5 wt%) powder compacts coated with magnesia powder (11 mg/ cm²). The thickness of the resulting composite increased with oxidation time and temperature, and was proportional to (pore size)^0.5 on using porous alumina. The composite thickness was more than 2 times larger in the silicon carbide and about 4 times larger in the aluminosilicate than in the alumina at 1523 K for 1 h. The products using these three types of substrates consisted of alumina, aluminum, and silicon, except that a silicon carbide phase occurred when using the silicon carbide substrate. Silica and mullite in the aluminosilicate substrate changed to silicon and alumina, and silica in the silicon carbide substrate changed to silicon because of the reduction by aluminum.