Production of alumina based porous ceramics using naphthalene as the pore former

Abstract

The present work focuses on the production of alumina based porous ceramics and its characterization. Five different alumina samples having naphthalene wt% between (0 - 50)% were prepared by die pressing. Pellets were fired at different range of temperatures (1500 – 1600oC) and time (2 – 4 hrs). It was found that with increase in the weight percentage (wt%) of naphthalene, the porosity increases. The pore size distribution also changes to larger pore sizes. CCS, bi-axial flexural strength decreases with increase in the porosity level and increases with the increase in sintering temperature and time. The strength vs porosity plots showed that the strength decreases exponentially with temperature and ln (CCS) vs porosity plots showed a linear fit with a negative slope. The SEM microstructure could describe briefly the distribution of the porosity inside those pellets and the average size of pores.