Fabrication of Porous Ti by Freeze-Drying and Heat Treatment of TiH 2 /Camphene Slurries

Porous Ti-systems with unidirectionally aligned channels were synthesized by freeze-drying and a heat treatment process. powder and camphene were used as the source materials of Ti and sublimable vehicles, respectively. Camphene slurries with content of 10 and 15 vol% were prepared by milling at with a small amount of oligomeric polyester dispersant. Freezing of the slurry was done in a Teflon cylinder attached to a copper bottom plate cooled at while unidirectionally controlling the growth direction of the camphene. Pores were generated subsequently by sublimation of the camphene during drying in air for 48 h. The green body was heat-treated at for 1 h in a nitrogen and air atmosphere. XRD analysis revealed that the samples composed of TiN and phase were dependent on the heat-treatment atmosphere. The sintered samples showed large pores of about 120 mm which were aligned parallel to the camphene growth direction. The internal wall of the large pores had relatively small pores with a dendritic structure due to the growth of camphene dendrite depending on the degree of nucleation and powder rearrangement in the slurry. These results suggest that a porous body with an appropriate microstructure can be successfully fabricated by freeze-drying and a controlled sintering process of a camphene/ slurry.