Improvement in the strut thickness of reticulated porous ceramics

An improved technique has been developed for the successful fabrication of reticulate porous ceramics (RPCs) with strong struts, using polyurethane sp onge as the template. In this technique, the coating process is composed of two stages. In the first stage, a thicker slurry is used to coat the spong e substrate uniformly. The green body is preheated to produce a reticulated preform with sufficient handling strength after the sponge has been burned out. In the second stage, a thinner slurry is used to coat the preform rep eatedly, so that that struts are greatly thickened, Furthermore, large flaw s, such as longitudinal strut cracks, are eliminated by the recoating profe ss. The mechanical properties of RPCs should be improved significantly by t his technique, which will make this material conducive for use in new techn ological applications.