Papers by Author: Yong Huang

Abstract: The rheological behavior of alumina suspension stabilized with Tri-ammonia citrate (TAC) was studied. It was thought that there would form some particle clusters due to the collisions between particles caused by their relative motion in the suspension, and such particle clusters are classified as thermodynamic clusters and hydrodynamic clusters by their origin. Shear thinning is the result of decomposition of the thermodynamic clusters, while shear thickening is the result of formation of the hydrodynamic clusters. From the view of cluster-forming potential barrier, it was deemed that the viscosities of alumina suspensions at low and high shear rates are respectively determined by zeta potential and Stern potential on the particle surface, and shear thickening behavior can be suppressed with some excessive TAC.

Abstract: Porous SiC ceramics with high porosity and high strength were fabricated by gelcasting, with tert-butyl alcohol (TBA) as solvent, acrylamide (AM) as monomer, and in-situ reaction bonding with a-Al2O3 as sintering additive. SiC suspension with 10 vol% solid loading was successfully solidified by gel-casting to form high strength green body. The results showed that the compressive strength of the porous SiC ceramics increased with sintering temperature from 1300 to 1450°C, but porosity had little change, due to formation of more volume of cristobalite and mullite phases on the surface of SiC grains, accompanied by a large volume expansion effect. Very narrow single-peak distributions with about 2 mm median pore diameter could be found for the porous SiC ceramics. The porosity and compressive strength of the porous SiC ceramics sintered at 1450°C were 71.21 % and 12.14 MPa, respectively.

Abstract: Porous silica ceramics with above 70% porosity were fabricated by gelcasting process using tert-butyl alcohol (TBA) as solvent. Two types of starting powders, α-silica and fused silica, were chosen to fabricate porous silica ceramics. According to XRD analysis, only single α-cristobalite phase can be identified in the sintered samples. SEM observation showed that highly porous skeleton formed by the bonding of molten ceramic particles in porous silica ceramics. Comparing to the samples using α-silica as starting materials, a compressive strength of 6.30MPa was achieved at a porosity of 70.7% when using fused silica as starting materials. A relatively high specific surface area higher than 10m2/g was obtained for both samples, which should be suitable for catalysis applications as catalyst supports.

Abstract: Electrophoretic deposition (EPD) has been widely studied in preparing clay-modified electrodes (CMEs) and in assembly of nano-laminated composite that mimics nacre. In this paper, the hydrothermal intercalation and EPD were combined to prepare CMEs with a uniform and continuous polymer/clay composite film of brick-and-mortar nano-laminated structure. X-ray diffraction, scanning electronic microscopy and thermal gravimetric analysis were employed to characterize the structure and composition of the films. Stability of aqueous suspension, temperature for hydrothermal intercalation and deposition time, etc. were systematically studied and discussed.

Abstract: Particular attention is paid in this paper to understanding the surface characteristics and aqueous dispersibility of as-received commercial powders. The different production methods and specific pulverization processes used for the four powders studied (FD1, FD2, M11, UBE) result in obvious differences in such powder properties as surface groups, aqueous dispersibility, and water-soluble ions.

Abstract: Extrusion gelation freeform fabrication process is an extrusion-based freeforming technique capable of fabricating complex shaped monolithic ceramic prototypes by the sequential deposition and solidification of ceramic suspensions from a computer aided design model. In this process, ceramic parts are produced using an extrusion nozzle suitable for extruding ceramic suspensions. In this study, the processing parameters influencing on manufacturing Al2O3 parts were discussed. Air pressure on top of suspensions, rotating speed of screw, nozzle diameter and scan speed are the main factors to influence the dimensional precision of ceramic bodies. By optimizing these processing parameters, the green bodies were fabricated with high precision. The sintered samples with homogenous microstructure and ~97.6% relative density could be prepared by sintering of these green bodies at 1600oC for 2 hours.

Abstract: ZrB2/SiC ceramic composites reinforced by nano-SiC whiskers and SiC particles have been prepared by hot-pressing at 1950°C for 1hr under 20 MPa pressure in flow argon atmosphere. Effects of SiC addition on microstructure, mechanical properties and thermal ablation/oxidation behavior of ZrB2/SiC composites were investigated. The results showed that the addition of SiC effectively improved the densification of ZrB2/SiC composites and almost full dense ZrB2/SiC composites were obtained when the amount of SiC increased up to 20 vol%. Flexural strength and fracture toughness of the ZrB2/SiC composites were also enhanced; the maximum strength and toughness reached 600 MPa and 8.81 MPa·m1/2 at SiC additions of 20 vol % and 30 vol%, respectively. The composites possessed good resistance to flame ablation and could keep the whole shape without distinct peeling or cracking after flame ablation by oxyacetylene flame for 3 mins. The more SiC added, the better resistance to flame ablation the composites displayed.

Abstract: In this paper, the MgAlON ceramic was fabricated by Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) and hot press sintering respectively. The results showed that highly pure and single-phase MgAlON could be fabricated at lower sintering temperature in a short period through SPS process, compared with the conventional Hot Press sintering (HP) process. The bending strength of MgAlON specimens prepared by SPS process was higher than 500MPa while bending strength of HP specimens was much lower. The open porosity was almost eliminated in SPS MgAlON specimens. Spark Plasma Sintered MgAlON had a single phase of MgAlON while Hot Press Sintered MgAlON had major MgAlON and minor AlN and Al2O3.

Abstract: Ultra-fine and high-pure zirconium diboride powders were prepared by carbothermal reduction boronization of zirconia/boron carbide/carbon mixtures. Fine-scale mixing of the reactants was achieved by solution-based processing in which zirconium oxychloride (ZrOCl2⋅8H2O) as the zirconia-bearing precursor was precipitated in the suspension of boron carbide (B4C) and carbon powders in water. The carbothermal reduction boronization reaction was substantially completed at relatively low temperatures (<1600°C) and the resulting products (ZrB2 powders) had small average grain sizes (1~2 μm) and high purity (>99.6 wt%). The experiments indicated that excessive B4C and C were necessary during the carbothermal reduction boronization because of volatilization of boron and carbon elements. The effects of temperature and holding time on the synthesis of ZrB2 powders were also discussed.