Porous ceramics obtained by slip/starch casting consolidation method (SSCC)

Abstract

Slip/starch casting consolidation (SSCC) is a technique for obtaining porous ceramics, which joins the forming process by starch consolidation with the slip casting method. In this work, a slip which contains ceramic powders, starch and dispersant, is poured into a porous mold and is taken to an oven so that the gelling process occurs. After sintering, it is noticed that the ceramics show different characteristics from the ones obtained exclusively by slip casting or by starch consolidation. Alumina ceramics were produced by using the three methods presented in this work. The ceramics were characterized by apparent porosity, mechanical resistance and scanning electron microscopy. The ceramics produced by SSCC presented the highest mechanical resistance value (289 MPa), while the ones produced by starch consolidation and slip casting presented values of 126 MPa and 191 MPa, respectively.