Fabrication of SiC Dense-Porous Laminates by Electrophoretic Deposition Process

In order to obtain dense-porous laminated structure in green bodies of SiC ceramics, rapid aqueous electrophoretic deposition (EPD) was introduced. The suspension for the electrophoretic deposition was prepared using silicon carbide, silicon and carbon powders as the starting materials. During the electrophoretic deposition process, the intending dense and porous layers were deposited alternately to form the green body. After drying, the green bodies were reaction-bonded at 1550°C in vacuum atmosphere. Pore fraction of the porous layers could be adjusted by changing process preferences of EPD and suspension composition. Pore size and size distribution could be controlled by using different sized starting powders. Using this process, no additional substance is necessary to generate the pores via burnt-off, and the dense/porous laminated structure can be obtained by one-step sintering process.