GEL CASTING OF ALUMINA CERAMICS USING AN EGG WHITE PROTEIN BINDER SYSTEM

• Main Authors: XING HE, BO SU, XINGUI ZHOU, JUNHE YANG, BIN ZHAO, XIANYING WANG, GUANGZHI YANG, ZHIHONG TANG, HANXUN QIU
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague 2011-02-01
• Series: Ceramics-Silikáty
• Subjects: Alumina; Egg white protein; Dense ceramics; Gelcasting
• Online Access: http://www.ceramics-silikaty.cz/2011/pdf/2011_01_1.pdf
• ISSN: 0862-5468; 1804-5847

Egg white protein (EW) is a food ingredient commonly used for its gelling properties and has been applied in ceramic fabrication. In this work, EW was used as an environmentally-friendly binder for gelcasting alumina ceramics at elevated temperature (80°C). The gelling behavior was compared with the ambient temperature drying-induced gelation processing. The processing conditions and mechanical properties of the ceramics processed from two different processing variants were compared. The results indicate that the ceramics from heat-induced gelation showed improved mechanical properties and more uniform microstructure after sintering in comparison to the drying-induced ones. Dense and complex-shaped ceramic parts via computer numerical controlled (CNC) green machining have been produced from the EW gelcast ceramics.