Microstructure Of Porous Ceramics Research Articles

Dominant role of ceramic connectivity in microwave dielectric properties of porous ceramics

The connectivity of constituting phases plays an important role in the physical properties of composites and porous materials, while it is still overlooked in many cases. In the present work, CaTiO3 is used as the model material to clarify the effect of ceramic connectivity on the microwave dielectric properties of porous ceramics. CaTiO3-A and CaTiO3-B porous ceramics are prepared by partial sintering at 700–1200 °C and sintering at the optimum temperature of 1350 °C with the aid of porogen, respectively. With increasing the sintering temperature from 700 to 1000 °C, the relative density of CaTiO3-A ceramics maintains around 58%, while their εr, Qf, and τf increase dramatically (20.4–48.2, 968–4,237 GHz, and 443.9–724.2 ppm/ °C). The three parameters are even higher in CaTiO3-B ceramic with a similar relative density of 54.1% (69.1, 5,658 GHz, and 782.9 ppm/ °C). The huge variation in microwave dielectric properties is attributed to the significantly improved ceramic connectivity with sintering temperature observed from microstructure analysis. Finite element analysis further reveals that the ceramic connectivity plays the dominant role in the microwave dielectric properties by deciding the electric field distribution in CaTiO3 phase and pores and hence their contribution to dielectric response. The exponent α in exponential dielectric mixing rule is employed to describe the ceramic connectivity, and the trinary relationship among the microwave dielectric properties, constitution, and microstructure of porous ceramics is well constructed. This relationship can be extended to ceramic-polymer and ceramic-ceramic composites, which brings new perspectives for designing such microwave dielectric materials.

The Effect of Thermal Treatment on the Characteristics of Porous Ceramic-Based Natural Clay and Chitosan Biopolymer Precursors

This study was conducted to determine the role of thermal treatment on the crystallinity and pore characteristics of porous ceramic, which was prepared from natural clay (NC) and chitosan (CS) biopolymer using the gel casting method. CS was used as an environmentally friendly pore-forming agent. The applied temperature treatment was based on thermal analysis (TGA/DTA) results and followed a sintering temperature of 900 to 1100 °C. The results showed that at sintering temperatures from 900 to 1000 °C, the crystallinities of the ceramic decrease (from 76.06 to 74.06%) and the crystallite size decreases (from 35.71 to 34.47 nm) while the lattice strain increases (calculated from the Full Width at Half Maximum (β) of the diffraction peak). The highest porosity of ceramic occurred at a sintering temperature of 1000 °C of 37.82 ± 0.19, but the formation of heterogeneous microstructure was observed. The resulting pore size for all temperature treatments was almost mesoporous (19.1 Å). Based on the results obtained, it is emphasized that the sintering temperature can be used to adjust the porosity and microstructure of porous ceramics.

Effect of starch on pore structure and thermal conductivity of diatomite-based porous ceramics

Considering the low-cost and environmental protection, the porous ceramics with high porosity using natural diatomite powder were successfully prepared by utilizing hot injection moulding and sacrificial fugitives. The impacts of different content of starch as a pore-forming agent on the phase composition, mechanical properties, thermal conductivity, and micro-structure of porous ceramics were investigated. The results demonstrate that starch content can significantly affect the mechanical properties and thermal conductivity of diatomite-based porous ceramics. When the starch content increased from 0 wt % to 50 wt %, the porosity increased from 61.2% to 80%, while the thermal conductivity decreases from 0.239 W/(m K) to 0.098 W/(m K). The low thermal conductivity of porous ceramics may be related to the macroporous–mesoporous composite structure. With the starch content increased, a greater chance of starch granule contact, higher internal pore sizes and a wider pore size distribution in the prepared samples, which resulting in lower mechanical strength, such as the three-point bending strength from 2.83 MPa to 0.46 MPa.

Preparation and properties of porous ceramics from nickel slag by aerogel gelcasting

To further resource industrial solid waste, porous ceramics with high porosity were prepared by a gelcasting method using nickel slag and kaolin as raw materials and hydrophilic nontoxic SiO2 aerogel as a gelling agent. The effects of nickel slag content, dispersant and solid content on the properties and microstructure of porous ceramics were investigated in detail in terms of density, compressive strength, porosity, phase composition and micromorphology. The results confirmed that a certain amount of nickel slag can effectively improve the porosity of porous ceramics, while the addition of dispersant can promote the flow of the slurry, enhanced the denseness of the raw billet and significantly improved the compressive strength. However, its excessive use had a negative effect on the ceramic density and porosity. At the same time, the solid content played a key role in the performance of porous ceramics prepared by gelcasting, and too much solid content was also not conducive to the generation of pores. When the nickel slag content was 55%, the amount of dispersant was 2%, and the solid content was 60 vol%, the porous ceramic had a better overall performance, the density of the porous ceramic was 510 kg/m3, the compressive strength was 1.3 MPa, and the porosity reached 80.1%. The major crystalline phases of porous ceramics prepared by nickel slag were cordierite and anorthite.

Effect of sintering temperature on structure and properties of porous ceramics from tungsten ore tailings

• A novel disposal of tungsten ore tailings with a high reduction of its volume. • Phase composition and microstructure of porous ceramics were comprehensively studied. • Formation mechanism of the porous microstructure was proposed. • The obtained porous ceramics have potential as lightweight permeable building materials.

High-strength porous alumina ceramics prepared from stable wet foams

Porous ceramics have been widely used in heat insulation, filtration, and as a catalyst carrier. Ceramics with high porosity and high strength are desired; however, this high porosity commonly results in low strength materials. In this study, porous alumina with high porosity and high strength was prepared by a popular direct foaming method based on particle-stabilized wet foam that used ammonium polyacrylate (PAA) and dodecyl trimethyl ammonium chloride (DTAC) as the dispersant and hydrophobic modifier, respectively. The effects of the dispersant and surfactant contents on the rheological properties of alumina slurries, stability of wet foams, and microstructure and mechanical properties of sintered ceramics were investigated. The microstructure of porous ceramics was regulated using wet foams to achieve high strength. For a given PAA content, the wet foams exhibited increasing stability with increasing DTAC content. The most stable wet foam was successfully obtained with 0.40 wt% PAA and 0.02 wt% DTAC. The corresponding porous alumina ceramics had a porosity of 82%, an average grain size of 0.7 µm, and a compressive strength of 39 MPa. However, for a given DTAC content, the wet foams had decreasing stability with increasing PAA content. A possible mechanism to explain these results is analyzed.

Microstructure–Property Connections for Porous Ceramics: The Possibilities Offered by Micromechanics

Microstructure of porous ceramics is highly “irregular”: it comprises pores and microcracks of diverse shapes and orientations. This makes their quantitative modeling challenging, and one often resorts to empirical relations containing fitting parameters and having somewhat uncertain range of applicability. We review the substantial progress made in modeling of “irregular” microstructures that does not seem to have been sufficiently utilized in the context of ceramics. We discuss the possibilities offered by micromechanics in developing microstructure–property relations for porous microcracked ceramics. After an overview of relevant micromechanics topics, we focus on several issues of specific interest for ceramics: nonlinear stress–strain behavior, effective elastic properties, and thermally induced microcracking. We discuss extraction of microscale parameters (such as strength of the intergranular cohesion, density of cracks and pores, etc.) from macroscopic data and identify the extent of uncertainty in this process. We also argue that there is no quantitative correlation between fracturing process and the loss of elastic stiffness.

Preparation and microstructure of porous ZrB2 ceramics using reactive spark plasma sintering method

Zirconium oxide (ZrO2) and boron carbide (B4C) were added to ZrB2 raw powders to prepare ZrB2 porous ceramics by reactive spark plasma sintering (RSPS). The reactions between ZrO2 and B4C which produce ZrB2 and gas (such as CO and B2O3) result in pore formation. X-Ray Diffraction results indicated that the products phase was ZrB2 and the reaction was completed after the RSPS process. The porosity could be controlled by changing the ratio of synthesized ZrB2 to raw ZrB2 powders. The porosity of porous ceramics with 20 wt% and 40 wt% synthsized ZrB2 are 0.185 and 0.222, respectivly. And dense ZrB2-SiC ceramic with a porosity of 0.057 was prepared under the same conditions for comparison. The pores were homogeneously distributed within the microstructure of the porous ceramics. The results indicate a promising method for preparing porous ZrB2-based ceramics.

Wet foam stability and tailoring microstructure of porous ceramics using polymer beads

The microstructures of the porous ceramics are improved considerably using polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) as a pore template since particles tend to adsorb irreversibly at the air-water interface. This paper presents a versatile approach for the production of porous SiO2 ceramics by a process of direct foaming with the addition of PMMA beads. The adsorption free energy of the colloidal suspension was found to be 2.0 × 109 kT. A wet foam stability of >80% was achieved using the surfactant hexylamine (0.05 M), which resulted in a colloidal suspension with the highest surface tension (116.2 mN m− 1).

Influence of SiO2Content on Wet-foam Stability for Creation of Porous Ceramics

The thermodynamic instability of bubbles in wet-foam colloidal suspension is due to the substantial area of their gas/liquid interface. Several physical processes lead to gas diffusion from smaller to larger bubbles, resulting in a coarsening and Ostwald ripening of wet foam. This includes a narrowing of the bubble size distribution. The distribution and microstructure of porous ceramics, the adsorption free energy and Laplace pressure of Al₂O₃ particle-stabilized colloidal suspension, and SiO₂ content were investigated for tailoring the bubble size. Wet-foam stability of more than 80% is related to the degree of hydrophobicity with contact angles of 62?70° achieved from the surfactant. The contact angle replaces part of the highly energetic interface and lowers the free energy of the system. This leads to an apparent increase in the surface tension (26?33 mN/m) of the colloidal suspension.

Wet Foam Stabilized by Amphiphiles to Tailor the Microstructure of Porous Ceramics

Wet foams formed through direct foaming were stabilized using various concentrations of amphiphilic particles that could control pore size and porosity. Microstructures and wet foam stability were tailored by amphiphile concentration, particle concentration, contact angle and pH of the suspension to obtain crack-free porous solid after sintering. The influence of these parameters on the porosity was satisfactorily described in terms of combined effects of the contact angle and particle concentration of the initial suspensions, directly affected by amphiphile concentration. Pores were obtained with sizes of c. a 30 - 300 µm and porosities of over 80%.

Study of controlled tetracycline release from porous calcium phosphate/polyhydroxybutyrate composites

AbstractPorous calcium phosphate ceramics were prepared by sintering of mixtures of nanocrystalline apatitic calcium phosphate and fibrous natural cotton cellulose after pressing at temperatures of 1150 °C and 1250 °C. Micro-and macropores were present in microstructures of ceramic samples. The microstructures of porous ceramics were similar to those observed in bone tissues and fiber-like randomly oriented texture was observed in ceramics. Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) biopolymer layers are distributed homogeneously in the samples after evaporation of the diluent (chloroform) from the PHB vacuum impregnated porous samples. The tetracycline (TTC) release rate decreases with the content of polyhydroxybutyrate in the ceramic samples, which corresponds to the rise in amount of biopolymer displaced in the pores of ceramics. The concentration of TTC in the phosphate buffer saline solution varies almost linearly with time after the first seven hours from the start of the release of the calcium phosphate ceramic samples with 2.4 mass % of polyhydroxybutyrate. The initial burst effect was significantly depressed by the preparation method used.

Porosity and microstructure control of porous ceramics by partial hot pressing

Precise control of porosity and microstructure of porous ceramics is essential. This paper describes a method for the preparation of porous ceramics with porosity from 0.0 to 0.4. The ceramics were prepared via hot pressing a powder mixture to a definite dimension, and the porosity was easily adjusted by the powder amount. As examples, porous Si3N4 or SiC ceramics were produced by powder mixtures that contained Si3N4 or SiC and a sintering additive of oxide. It was demonstrated that the present method is advantageous for producing ceramics with controllable porosity and microstructure.

Modification of Microstructure of Porous Ceramics Using CVD Method

Modification of Microstructure of Porous Ceramics Using CVD Method