Manufacture of biomorphic Al2O3 ceramics using filter paper as template

Biomorphic Al2O3 ceramics were prepared through the surface sol-gel process with filter papers as bio-templates. The filter papers were infiltrated with γ-AlOOH sol and subsequently sintered in air at high temperatures to produce the biomorphic Al2O3 ceramics. The results show that the final materials have a hierarchical structure originated from the morphology of cellulose paper. The sintering temperatures exhibit a strong effect on the surface pore-size distribution of obtained Al2O3 ceramics. Differential scanning calorimeter, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and BET analysis were employed to characterize the microstructure, morphology and phase compositions of the final products.