Ceramics-Silikáty 59, (1) 6 - 9 (2015)

Recently, the open-cell ceramic foams have been extensively investigated due to special properties of these structures. They are excellent candidates for various applications such as molten metal and hot gas filtration, fabrication of metal matrix composites (MMC), heat exchangers and catalyst support. In this study to prepare high strength and high permeable foams, alumina suspensions with proper solid contents and suitable rheological behavior were used for different pore density foams. The properties of the prepared foams such as mean pore size, total porosity, mechanical strength and water permeability were characterized by using different techniques. A reduction in pore density caused an increase in total porosity from 78.5 % to 83 %. The compression strength of the samples was dependent on total porosity as well as properties of the suspension. Compression strengths of 1.77; 3.24 and 3.55 MPa were measured for 10, 17 and 27 ppi foams, respectively. Presence of high volume of permeable pores and good uniformity of the structure led to high permeable foams. The permeability measurement confirmed a rise in permeability rate with a decrease in pore density of the foams.