Uniting printability and self-supportability of cordierite precursor pastes for fabricating cordierite ceramics with custom structures via supportless stereolithography

Abstract

Cordierite precursor pastes including talc, alumina and silica particles were successfully prepared to fabricate porous cordierite ceramics by supportless stereolithography (SLA). To combining the printability and self-supportability properties of the pastes, the effects of the type and content of the dispersant on the rheological behavior were systematically investigated. Additionally, the effects of solid loading and plasticizer type on the rheological behavior of the cordierite precursor pastes were studied. It was found that 1 wt% Span80 was optimal for modifying the rheological behavior of the cordierite precursor pastes. Furthermore, the results indicated that the printability deteriorated, and the hysteresis area and yield stress of the cordierite precursor pastes increased rapidly when the solid loading exceeded 33 vol%. With the addition of 18 vol% plasticizers to replace UV-curing resins, dibutyl phthalate (DBP) was more effective in improving the printability of cordierite precursor pastes and ensuring self-supportability, compared with the polyethylene glycol 400 (PEG400). Finally, using the optimized cordierite precursor pastes, the porous cordierite ceramics with custom structures were successfully prepared.