Fabrication and Properties of CaAl12O19-Al2O3 Composite Ceramics

Abstract

CaAl12O19-Al2O3 composite ceramics were synthesized by in situ solid state reaction using CaCO3 and industrial α-Al2O3 powders. The effects of sintering temperature and ratio of CA6 (CaAl12O19) content on phases and microstructure of the final composite ceramics were studied by XRD and SEM. The result showed that sheet-like CA6 appeared in the materials when sintering temperature was higher than 1400°C and grew up with the increased of the sintering temperature. The optimum sintering temperature was 1600°C, when the sample containing 20wt% CA6 was sintered at 1600°C, the bulk density was 3.21g/cm3, the apparent porosity achieved 9.94% and the bending strength gained 149.88MPa. With the increasing of CA6 content in the final composite ceramics, the bulk density and the bending strength increased firstly and then decreased. The lowest apparent porosity 1.42%, a density of 3.60g/cm3 and the highest bending strength of 265.10MPa were achieved for the sample containing 10wt% CA6 sintered at 1600°C.