Papers by Keyword: Alumina

Abstract: This article examines the utilization of fly ash in comparison with alumina as raw materials and sources of aluminium oxide for synthesis of forsterite-spinel refractory ceramics. Raw materials were milled, mixed in different ratios into two sets of mixtures and sintered at 1500°C for 2 hours. Sintered samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis and scanning electron microscopy. Samples were also subjected to determination of porosity, water absorption and bulk density. Thermal and thermomechanical properties were determined by thermal analyses, refractoriness, refractoriness under load, thermal shock resistance and thermal dilatometric analysis with determination of thermal expansion coefficient. Mixtures with 10 wt.% and 20 wt.% of fly ash had the most promising results compared to alumina mixtures. Thermal shock resistance and modulus of rupture were improving with increasing content of aluminium oxide in the mixture.

Abstract: Forsterite refractory ceramics is utilized in the metallurgical and cement industries as a lining of metallurgical furnaces and rotary kilns for its high refractoriness up to 1850°C and refractoriness under load above 1600°C. Another significant property of forsterite is its coefficient of linear thermal expansion utilized in the electrotechnical industry for ceramic-metal joints. Addition of aluminium oxide into the raw material mixture results in creation of magnesium-alumina spinel (MgO·Al₂O₃) which improves sintering, thermal shock resistance and mechanical properties in comparison with pure forsterite ceramics. Inexpensive source of aluminium oxide is fly ash. Utilization of fly ash, secondary energetic product of coal-burning power plants, is important for the environment and sustainable development. This paper evaluated properties of fly ash-based forsterite-spinel ceramics in comparison with alumina-based forsterite-spinel ceramics. Forsterite-spinel ceramics was synthesized from olivine, calcined magnesite and fly ash/alumina powders. XRD analysis was used to determine mineralogical composition, thermal analyses were used to determine the behaviour during firing and scanning electron microscopy to determine the morphology of crystal phases. Refractoriness of pyrometric cones, refractoriness under load, thermal shock resistance, coefficient of linear thermal expansion, water absorption, porosity and modulus of rupture were also determined on fired test samples.

Abstract: In this study, ceramic foams were produced using starch consolidation casting method. This research focused on the preparation of alumina-based ceramic foam by using corn starch as a pore-forming agent. Preparation of alumina based ceramic foam is studied to observe the effect of the addition of corn starch on its physical, mechanical and morphological properties. The composition of the suspension used included 64–58 wt.% alumina, 55 wt.% deionised water and other materials, such as silica and polyethylene glycol (PEG), were used as additive and dispersing agent respectively. Corn starch was added at 4, 6, 8 and 10 wt.%. The samples were preheated for gelation and coagulation processes, then dried and sintered at 1250 °C for 2 h. The ceramic foam gave a linear shrinkage from 1.07% to 3.39%. The obtained flexural strength was between 0.594 and 1.996 MPa. The average total porosity ranged from 54.05% to 70.70%. This study found that the suitable amount of corn starch in alumina foam is 4 wt.% because the resulting porosity values and flexural strength are appropriate for ceramic foams.

Abstract: Catalytic chemical vapor deposition (CCVD) is considered as the most suitable technique for the large scale and low-cost production of carbon nanotubes (CNTs). Catalytic activity of Fe-Co, Fe-Ni and Co-Ni mixture supported on Al₂O₃ has been investigated in the production of carbon nanotubes (CNTs). Absolute ethanol was used as a source of carbon and nitrogen as the carrier gas. The Carbon nanotubes prepared by the catalytic decomposition of ethanol at 1173°K over iron supported alumina or silica catalysts with 5Wt% iron loading in a horizontal tube furnace under flow of nitrogen. The morphological structure of deposits CNTs were investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The results showed that the alumina supported catalysts more active towards CNTs formation than silica supported catalysts even with changing the percentage of metal loading (2.5% - 10%). Further investigation for alumina support with other metals and their binary metals heve been done to see for how far the alumina is suitable as a support. The yield of the carbon deposit obtained varied from 11.2 to 34.9% of the initial weight of the catalyst. The results revealed that CNTs prepared by Fe-Ni/Al₂O₃ catalyst has high length/diameter ratio and small tube diameter ≈ 17 nm.

Abstract: For the development of the additive technologies it is necessary to expand the range of the used materials. One of the most promising directions is the creation of products from composite materials. In this work copper-alumina composite powder was prepared by ball milling, and used in selective laser melting, to produce a composite material. The raw powder materials consisted of the gas atomized Cu powder (with the regular spherical shape and mean particle diameter of 32 μm) and alumina powder, produced by condensation of vapor on electrostatic filter (average particle size is about 220 nm). The alumina weight ratio was 5%. Four 30x10x6 mm copper-alumina specimens were manufactured. The scanning electron microscopy was used for the analysis of composite microstructure. Obtained copper-alumina composite material has higher hardness, in comparison with cast copper (HRB is 60 and 45, respectively).

Abstract: This paper is devoted to fabrication of alumina reinforced EP648 matrix composite material, using selective laser melting. of two-phase composite powder, prepared by ball milling of metal and ceramic powders. Five 10x10x5 mm bulk specimens were successfully manufactured using different process parameters. The obtained MMC specimens were characterized by scanning electron microscopy.

Abstract: In Russia, the main feedstock for producing aluminum is bauxite. During the processing of 1 ton of bauxite into alumina (Al₂O₃), up to 0.5–0.6 ton of techno-genic waste is formed, that is red mud. It is not currently disposed of and accumulated in mud tailing dumps. It contains valuable components: Al – 8 %; Fe – 25 %; Ti – 2.4 % and it can be considered as a potential raw material for ferrous metallurgy and as a source of vanadium, titanium, and rare-earth elements (REE) Sc, Y, La. The paper shows the possibility of obtaining red mud with an increased iron content of up to 36 %, with an additional extraction of aluminum. Red mud from the Ural Aluminum Plant (Russia) is considered. It is proposed to direct this mud to the production of pellets for the production of cast iron. To extract aluminum from red mud, it is proposed to process the mud in a highly alkaline medium by sintering in the temperature range 300–600 °C. The resulting sinter is leached with water or a slightly alkaline solution with the conversion of aluminum compounds into solution. The red mud, obtained this way, exhibits magnetic properties. A magnetic separation was carried out, and the yield of the magnetic fraction is 79.87 %. The iron content increases by 25 % and amounts to 51.88 % of Fe₂O₃.

Abstract: Compounds of alumina APC-2011 SG with niobia, silica and magnesia were sintered at 1400°C/3h, in order to evaluate their ballistic performance. The content of niobia (Nb₂O₅) was 4.0 to 8.0 wt.%; silica (SiO₂) was 0.8 wt.%; and magnesia (MgO) at 0.15 wt.%. Sintered samples were characterized by hardness, densification and energy absorption at impact. Ballistic tests were performed by ceramic discs firmly glued to steel plates and then subjecting the target to impact using 7.62 mm projectile shot from a rifle with a throw distance of 5 m. The energy absorbed by the disintegration of the ceramic discs was estimated by the residual velocity. The fracture surfaces of the samples were observed by scanning electron microscopy. It was verified for the first that the addition of high amounts of Nb₂O₅ to the alumina with the presence of SiO₂ and MgO increases the presence of vitreous phase in the contours of alumina grains and improved the properties of the material for use in ballistic protection.

Abstract: Cermet is an important new engineering material that not only maintains the excellent properties of ceramic materials, but also has the advantages of metal materials. In this paper, the encapsulated alumina-aluminum composite powder was prepared by ball milling and characterized, which laid a foundation for the development of high properties cermet materials. Through the analysis of experimental results, the conclusions are shown when the ball milling time is greater than 3 h, the alumina particles are more evenly distributed around the aluminum powder. the ball milling for 6 h may have reached a limit of the mixing uniformity of the two powder, so the ball milling is determined 6 h as the better ball milling time. Under the ball milling condition of 50 r/min, the distribution of alumina particles around the aluminum powder is more uniform around the aluminum powder than the ball mill under 75 r/min, the ball milling speed is preferably 50 r/min. As the content of aluminum powder increases, the distribution of alumina in aluminum powder is large and uniform, and there is a small amount of pinning. It provides a package-like composite for the preparation of cermet with a wrapped structure and the thermal conduction mechanism of the controlled cermet.

Abstract: Particle size analysis of synthesized Al₂O₃ by dissolution and alkali fusion-coprecipitation methods has been conducted. The formation of nano- or microparticles can be synthesized by the top-down (physically) and bottom-up (chemically) methods. In this study, the commercial alumina (Merck) with the particle size of 63 µm was synthesized through the bottom-up method. The dissolution method was done by reacting to alumina with ammonium hydroxide (NH₄OH). The alkali fusion method was carried out by reacting alumina with sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and it obtained by coprecipitation of the alkali fusion product with HCl and NH₄OH. The result from both methods were calcined at 600°C. The phase of synthesized Al₂O₃ was identified by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), whereas the morphology observed using a transmission electron microscope (TEM), and the particle sizes measured by particle sizes analyzer (PSA). The XRD pattern shows the γ-Al₂O₃ phases with particle sizes of ~33 nm and ~25 nm from TEM observations, while the PSA results revealed agglomerated particles with particle sizes of 1263 nm and 477 nm for the dissolution and alkali fusion-coprecipitation method, respectively. Therefore, both methods can be used to reduce the particle size of γ-Al₂O₃.