Preparation of porous lamellar mullite ceramics with whisker skeletons by electrospinning and pressure molding

Porous mullite ceramics was fabricated by a combination of electrospinning and pressure molding method. Different from the previous reports, the electrospinning in this experiment was just a method of arranging the whiskers into a non-woven structure and coating the whiskers with the TEOS; the pressure molding was used as the final forming method. The sample's microstructure and phase compositions were investigated by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). In addition, their physical and mechanical properties were also measured. The prepared porous ceramics exhibited an interesting microstructure: The main body was built of layer-by-layer mullite whiskers with the silica as the high temperature binder, and the whiskers on each layer showed a non-woven structure.

► Electrospinning was firstly used to prepare structural ceramics.
► Porous mullite ceramics was prepared by electrospinning and pressure molding.
► The porous ceramics was built of layer-by-layer mullite whiskers.
► The whiskers on each layer showed a non-woven structure.