Effect of the Sintering Temperature on the Compressive Strengths of Reticulated Porous Zirconia

Abstract

Featured Application Ceramic Membranes. Porous ceramics have separation/collection (open pore) and heat-shielding/sound-absorbing (closed pore) characteristics not found in conventional dense ceramics, increasing their industrial importance along with dense ceramics. Reticulated porous ceramics, a type of porous ceramic material, are characterized by a three-dimensional network structure having high porosity and permeability. Although there have been numerous studies of porous zirconia, which is already widely used, there are insufficient reports on reticulated porous zirconia, and it is still challenging to improve the compressive strength of reticulated porous ceramics thus far, especially considering that too few studies have been published on this topic. Therefore, we prepared reticulated porous zirconia specimens using the replica template method. In this study, the compressive strength outcomes of reticulated porous zirconia were analyzed by controlling the PPI value (25, 45, 60, and 80 PPI) of the sacrificial polymer template, the average zirconia particle size (as-received, coarse, intermediate, and fine), and the sintering temperature (1400, 1500, and 1600 degrees C). Consequently, we confirm that it is possible to prepare reticulated porous zirconia with a wide range of strengths (0.16 similar to 1.26 MPa) as needed with an average particle size and while properly controlling the sintering temperature.