Freeze-casting process

Fig.l. Schematic illustration of the freeze-tape casting process... 

Hu EIL, Zeng YP, Xia YE, Yao DX, Zuo KH (2014) High-strength porous Si3N4 ceramics prepared by freeze casting and silicon powder nitridation process. Mater Lett 133 285-288... 

The objective of this chapter is to adopt partial/pressureless sintering and freeze-casting routes for the preparation of high-strength porous titanium diboride (TiB2) and porous Zr02 ceramics, with particular emphasis on the processing-microstructure-property relations inherent to each process. 

Figure 13.1 Different fabrication processes for phosphate nanocomposites (a) immersion, soaking, precipitation (b) electrospinning (c) (bio)plotting (d) freeze-casting (e) rapid prototyping from computer-aided data and (f) chemical synthesis.

From a structure and architecture point of view, discrete 3D architectures are achieved by plotting and prototyping, whereas electrospinning, freeze-casting and also chemical synthesis provide materials that have to be further processed to get the desired final architecture for the implant device. 

Freeze casting Freeze casting can be considered a particular type of template technique it is based on the freezing of a ceramic suspension into a mold and the successive sublimation of the solidified liquid medium. The suspension can be both aqueous-based or not. Areview on the freeze easting technique has been recently pubhshed (Li et al., 2012), showing the versatility of the process and of the materials produeed, as whole. While some experienees have been developed with structural oxides and ealeium phosphate biomaterials (Deville et al., 2006 Landi et al., 2008 Li et al., 2012), the field of non-oxide ceramics and much more of UHTCs is still mostly unexplored. 

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