Near-zero-shrinkage Al2O3 ceramic foams with coral-like and hollow-sphere structures via selective laser sintering and reaction bonding

Abstract The large shrinkage that ceramics undergo during sintering is a severe challenge for high-performance porous ceramics. In this study, we report a powder-based selective laser sintering (SLS) approach to prepare Al2O3 ceramic foams with near-zero shrinkage, high porosity, and outstanding strength. The ceramic foams consist of specific coral-like and hollow-sphere structures derived from the raw Al2O3/Al composite powders via reaction bonding (RB). A near-zero shrinkage of 0.91 ± 0.15% and a high porosity of 73.7 ± 0.2% can be achieved based on the Kirkendall effect during the oxidation of Al particles. Meanwhile, the reinforced sintering necks and robust bond-bridge connections between hollow-sphere and coral-like structures result in a remarkable bending strength of 7.37 ± 0.37 MPa. This measured strength is more than six times higher than other fabricated samples from spherical Al2O3 powders, and the comprehensive performance of ceramic foams prepared by this novel SLS/RB strategy is exceptionally remarkable versus that via conventional forming methods.