New Freeze‐Casting Technique for Ceramics with Sublimable Vehicles

A new ceramic freeze-casting technique capable of manufacturing near room temperature with a sublimable vehicle was accomplished. Fluid-concentrated slurries of Al2O3 powder in molten camphene (C10H16) were prepared at 55°C. These slurries were quickly solidified (frozen) at room temperature to yield rigid solid green bodies, followed by frozen camphene removal by sublimation (freeze-drying) with negligible shrinkage. Sintering without any special binder burnout process yielded sintered bodies with over 98% theoretical density. The proposed advantages include (1) elimination of extremely cold temperatures, (2) elimination of troublesome binder burnout process, and (3) fast manufacturing cycle due to quick solidification.

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