Effect of the sintering temperature on the fabrication of alumina beads

Abstract

In this study, kaolin bonded alumina-alginate composite beads were fabricated via a facile one-step sol-gel process by using sodium alginate. In order to achieve sintering of the beads at lower sintering temperatures a limited amount of CC31 commercial-grade kaolin was used as a sintering additive (Al2O3:CC31 commercial-grade kaolin=14:1). Produced composite beads were heat treated at 1300°, 1400° and 1500°C for 1 hour to achieve partial densification of the beads. TG-DTA analysis of the CC31 commercial-grade kaolin showed that mullite phase formation took place approximately at 1000°C. However, XRD measurements revealed that there is only alumina phase in the sintered ceramic beads. Due to the low amount of CC31 commercial-grade kaolin, mullite formation was not detectable via XRD analysis. No significant grain growth was observed at the sintered samples depending on the increasing sintering temperature. However, when the sintering temperature was increased, densification ratio and mechanical properties of the produced beads were enhanced significantly. Microstructural investigations of the sintered beads shown that with the help of the liquid phase sintering process, a good chemical bonding was achieved between the alumina particles.