Aqueous injection moulding of alumina using agarose

Injection moulding in water is receiving great interest for the low-cost production of near-net-shaped ceramic parts. In this technique, aqueous suspensions are gelated in the presence of a low concentration of gelling additive. In this work, alumina bodies are injection moulded in water by adding 1 wt.% agarose. The agarose is incorporated to the previously dispersed slurry and the blend is then milled in a ball mill. Agarose dissolves upon heating, but the dispersed slurry maintains stability up to 70 degreesC. Rheological behaviour is studied as a function of temperature for the ceramic slurry with and without agarose. The injected parts show a homogeneous microstructure without binder agglomerates, (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.