Combustion aided in situ consolidation of high strength porous ceramic structures with a minimum thermal budget

Abstract

The exothermic reaction between a pair of combustible pore formers (urea-ammonium nitrate) is the driving force in realizing low-temperature consolidation of hydroxyapatite (HA) particles. The particles are allowed to sinter in the proximity to the combustible pore formers. The exothermic (?H°<inf>rea</inf> = -898 kJ/mol) redox reaction between combustible pore formers is successfully utilized in deriving high compressive strength (~24 MPa) of HA at 300 °C. The evolution of gaseous products of combustion results in an interconnected porous network of HA. The estimated compressive strength of sintered HA at 300 °C is comparable with high temperature (1100 °C) conventionally sintered HA, at a fixed open porosity (~40%); which depicts nearly ~82% achievement with a reduction of sintering temperature by ~72%. Also, the pellets sintered at 600 °C have shown ~90% achievement in compressive strength of sintered HA. Further, the saturated pore area of 15% requires a sintering time of 9.58 h at a sintering temperature of 600 °C. Thus, combustion-assisted sintering is an alternative technique proves its potentiality in achieving remarkable compressive strength and paves the way for low-cost porous ceramics. © 2020 Elsevier B.V.