Injection molding of surface modified powders with high solid loadings: A case for fabrication of translucent alumina ceramics

Solid loading is a critical key to the fabrication of ceramic compacts with high densities via ceramic injection molding. As reported in most previous work, solid loading of ultra-fine alumina feedstock system could be achieved only up to ∼58 vol% with stearic acid (SA) as the surface modification agent. In present work, different from the traditional work in which SA has been introduced just in the powder blending process, we have successfully prepared the feedstock with a much higher solid loading up to ∼64 vol% by a prior ball milling treatment of ceramic powders with a small amount of SA before the traditional blending process. It can be attributed to that SA can be coated homogeneously around the powder surfaces by a chemical reaction induced by ball milling treatment. Highly translucent Al2O3 ceramics have been fabricated, which suggests an alternative route for fabrication of translucent ceramics with high quality.