Preparation and Performance Study of Mullite/Al2O3 Composite Ceramics for Solar Thermal Transmission Pipeline

Abstract

For lowering sintering temperature of mullite/Al2O3 composite ceramics for solar thermal transmission pipeline, kaolin, potassium feldspar, quartz, and γ‐Al2O3 were used as raw materials to in situ synthesize the composite ceramics with pressureless sintering method. Densification, mechanical properties, thermal expansion coefficient, thermal shock resistance, phase composition, and microstructure were investigated. The experiment results demonstrated that the introduction of potassium feldspar and quartz decreased the lowest sintering temperatures greatly to 1300°C. The optimum sample A3 sintered at 1340°C obtained the best performances. The water absorption, apparent porosity, bulk density, bending strength, and thermal expansion coefficient of A3 were 0.04%, 0.12%, 2.71 g/cm3, 94.82 MPa, and 5.83 × 10−6/°C, respectively. After 30 thermal shock cycles (wind cooling from 1100°C to room temperature), no cracks were observed on the surfaces of the sample, and the bending strength increased by −7.96%. XRD analysis indicated that the main phases of samples before and after 30 thermal shock cycles were consistently mullite, corundum, and α‐cristobalite, while the content of mullite increased after thermal shock. SEM micrographs illustrated that the mullite grains growth and micro‐cracks appeared after thermal shock endowed the composite ceramics with excellent thermal shock resistance.