Preparation of porous SnO2-based ceramics with lattice structure by DLP

Abstract

Porous tin oxide-based (SnO2-based) ceramics with lattice structures were prepared by digital light processing (DLP) 3D printing technology. A 57 wt% SnO2-based DLP slurry was prepared by rheological experiments. By optimizing the exposure time, the DLP process for preparing SnO2 based ceramics had better molding accuracy. The printing size error could be controlled at about 1.8%. The degreasing and sintering curves were obtained by thermogravimetric-differential scanning calorimetry (TG-DSC) analysis, and the SnO2-based porous ceramics with porosity of 50%–71% were prepared. The SnO2-based ceramics with high densification could be obtained by sintering at 1300 °C for 2 h. The relative density of printed SnO2-based ceramics was about 92%. In this paper, zinc oxide (ZnO) was selected as a sintering additive to promote the densification of SnO2 ceramics. According to the characterization methods of scanning electron microscopy(SEM), X-ray diffraction(XRD), Energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) and relative density, the optimum doping amount of ZnO was 9 wt%. The influence of pore structure on compressive strength was analyzed by finite element simulation and compressive test. The compressive strength of porous ceramics could be reduced from 1.56 MPa to 0.27 MPa by controlling the porosity of the porous lattice from 50% to 71%. The compressive strength of the solid block was 160 MPa. In this study, the porous SnO2-based ceramics prepared can be used in porous electrodes, lithium-ion batteries, supercapacitors, catalysts, sensors and other fields in the future.