Stabilization of Highly Concentrated Alumina Suspensions by Different Dispersants

Abstract

Slip casting is a widely used colloidal technique for consolidation of ceramic powders from a suspension. The colloidal approach ensures homogeneous microstructure of a green body, thereby reducing post-sintering machining and production costs. The process consists of several steps. The first step is to mix the ceramic powder with a liquid, usually water, where the stabilization of the new obtained suspension with different dispersants follows. When an optimum dispersion of particles is achieved, resulting in low slip viscosity, ceramic slurry can finally be poured into a porous mould, usually a gypsum one.