Effects of sintering additives on dispersion properties of Al2O3 slurry containing polyacrylic acid dispersant

Abstract

The effects of sintering aid adsorption on the dispersion properties of aluminum oxide slurries were investigated. We considered Al2O3 slurry without additives and Al2O3 slurry with a Mg additive with 0.1mass% in oxide equivalent as a sintering aid. In this study, we evaluated the adsorption isotherm of polyacrylic acid (PAA) onto Al2O3 and the dispersion degree of Al2O3 slurries in sedimentation tests under gravity. The adsorption isotherm featured a characteristic adsorption isothermal line with a maximum value when Mg additive was present in Al2O3. In addition, the packing fractions did not correspond to the apparent viscosity. However, in slurry that was allowed to settle for several days, both of them agreed. Therefore, the disagreement between the packing fraction and the apparent viscosity immediately after preparation arose from changes of the dispersion state, such as the decrease of the distance between particles with time. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd.