aState Key Laboratory of High Performance Ceramics and Superfine Microstructure, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 200050, China
bEngineering Ceramics Research Department, Korea Institute of Materials Sciences, Changwon, Gyeongnam, Korea
cUniversity of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing
Received 4 September 2013
Revised 12 October 2013
Accepted 14 October 2013
Available online 22 October 2013
Abstract
Direct foaming technique was utilized to fabricate high-performance ZrB2 porous ceramics. 45 vol% ZrB2(-B4C) slurries were prepared, together with poyacrylate dispersant and foaming agent. After gelcasting and pressureless sintering, porous ZrB2 ceramics were obtained. Thanks to the good fluidity and the presence of 2 wt% B4C as the sintering aid, Z-2B ceramic of dense strut and porous structures (55% in porosity) was obtained. Its compressive strength was (79.8±8.7) MPa. The co-relations between microstructures and mechanical properties of the as-prepared ZrB2 cellular ceramics were also studied.
