Porous ceramics with tri-modal pores prepared by foaming and starch consolidation

Porous silica ceramics with tri-modal pores were prepared, based on the generation of foams from silica/starch composite slurry and the subsequent stabilization of the structure by starch consolidation. The rheology of the original slurry and the foamed one were evaluated and compared. After drying, the green bodies were debindered and sintered at 1250 °C for 5 h. The resulting materials consisted of a hierarchical structure with large-sized cells, moderate-sized pores in cell wall and small-sized voids among silica grains. The compressive strength of the sintered samples varied within the range of 4–17 MPa, corresponding to relative densities of 18–30%.