Aqueous slip casting of MgAl2O4 spinel powder

A stoichiometric MgAl2O4 spinel (MAS) powder was synthesized by calcining a compacted mixture of \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$\boldsymbol{\alpha} $\end{document}-Al2O3 and calcined caustic MgO at 1400°C for 1 h and was surface treated against hydrolysis using an ethanol solution of H3PO4 and Al(H2PO4)3 after fine grinding. Aqueous suspensions with 41–45 vol.% treated powder were prepared using tetra methyl ammonium hydroxide (TMAH) and an ammonium salt of polyacrylic acid (Duramax D-3005) as dispersing agents. These stable suspensions were consolidated in plaster moulds by slip casting (SC) route for the first time. For comparison purposes, the treated powder was also compacted by die-pressing technique after converting into freeze-dried granules and sintered along with slip cast samples at 1550–1650°C for 1–2 h. The MAS ceramics fabricated by slip casting and die-pressing exhibited comparable properties.