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Thermoreversible Gelcasting: A Novel Ceramic Processing Technique
Author(s) -
Montgomery John K.,
Drzal Peter L.,
Shull Kenneth R.,
Faber K. T.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
journal of the american ceramic society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.9
H-Index - 196
eISSN - 1551-2916
pISSN - 0002-7820
DOI - 10.1111/j.1151-2916.2002.tb00239.x
Subject(s) - ceramic , materials science , slurry , casting , copolymer , process (computing) , composite material , chemical engineering , solvent , computer science , chemistry , organic chemistry , polymer , engineering , operating system
A new ceramic processing method, thermoreversible gelcasting (TRG), has been developed. The method uses a gelation process that can be reversed multiple times. Two Al 2 O 3 systems have been explored with the use of a specific triblock copolymer to form a binding gel network. The mixture becomes a free‐flowing liquid on heating above 60°C. However, on cooling below 60°C, the slurry instantaneously transforms to a physical gel. This process can be reversed easily (essentially with an infinite processing time window) while the solvent is present in the system, which is advantageous when trying to produce high‐quality dense pieces if initial casting irregularities occur. Near‐theoretically dense specimens have been produced with properties consistent with reported values of high‐density Al 2 O 3 .