ESA measurement for electrophoretic deposition of ceramic materials

The aim of this work is the preparation of a ceramic material consisting of two solid components by electrophoretic deposition (EPD) from aqueous suspensions. This method is based on the motion of charged particles in the electric field. Conditions for homogeneous and for graded deposition should be detected. For this purpose the electrokinetic properties of commercial alumina and zirconia powders were investigated by measuring the electrokinetic sonic amplitude (ESA) using the ESA 8000 system (Matec). The conditions for EPD were chosen from the electrokinetic properties. The amount of polyelectrolyte addition influences the rate of deposition and the homogeneity of the deposited layer. If the mobilities of the components differ in their magnitude and if there are no interactions a concentration gradient across the thickness of the layer can be adjusted. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.