Aqueous Processing of AlN Powder

For the production of ceramics containing AlN as a major or minor constituent it is necessary to avoid hydrolysis. To do that, non-aqueous powder processing is required or waterresistant AlN powders must be used. Alternatively, as in the Hydrolysis Assisted Solidification (HAS) process, which exploits the hydrolysis of the AlN for the solidification of the ceramic suspensions, the hydrolysis has to be prevented at room temperature but initiated at elevated temperatures. In this work a systematic study of AlN powder reactivity in water and other aqueous environments is presented. The AlN hydrolysis was investigated by measuring the pH of diluted suspensions and by analysis of the reaction products. The results indicate possible solutions for control of the reaction with water in order to exploit it or to prevent it to enable aqueous AlN powder processing.