Abstract
Porous mullite ceramics were prepared via emulsion templating using commercial powders of calcined kaolin, sericite and alumina as the main raw materials. Natural mineral sericite was successfully used to facilitate the sintering of the macroporous ceramics. The green samples were sintered at 1350–1650°C for 5h, and the microstructure and properties of the resultant porous ceramics were characterized. As fabricated, the porous mullite ceramics possess a hierarchical microstructure in which large spherical pores ~20μm in diameter are lined on their internal walls with small windows with an average diameter of ~3μm. The short network formed by the interconnected rod-shaped mullite crystals acts as a stiff skeleton, strengthening the highly porous ceramics. The samples sintered at the optimal temperature (1550°C) have a high open porosity (~73.4%) and a high mechanical strength (~22.1MPa).
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