Preparation of highly dispersive solid microspherical α-Al2O3 powder with a hydrophobic surface for stereolithography-based 3D printing technology

Abstract The present research demonstrates the feasibility of the preparation of a highly dispersive, solid microspherical α-Al2O3 powder with a hydrophobic surface using a simple, rapid, and low-cost method for stereolithography-based 3D printing technology, including the synthesis of a precursor based on the in situ hydrothermal reaction of aluminum sulfate and urea, heat treatment, and surface modification using sodium oleate. The dependence of the morphologies of the precursors and α-Al2O3 powders on the type of aluminum salt, reaction time, and temperature was studied. The formation conditions of the solid spherical structure were explored. The results indicate that the formation of a solid spherical structure strongly depends on the type of aluminum salt, reaction time, and temperature. A spherical structure is only obtained by mixing aluminum sulfate with urea. Very high reaction times and temperatures facilitate the transformation of the microstructure from a solid sphere to a hollow sphere. The optimum hydrothermal reaction conditions are as follows: aluminum sulfate concentration of 0.05 mol/L, urea concentration of 0.2 mol/L, reaction temperature of 120 °C, and reaction time of 2 h. The optimum surface modification is obtained by using 3 wt% of sodium oleate, which can be used for the preparation of a 50 vol% α-Al2O3 ceramic UV-curable suspension with a viscosity of 1.66 Pa s at 30 s-1. An alumina part with a sintering density of 95.5% was fabricated using stereolithography-based 3D printing technology. The analysis of the formation mechanism of the solid spherical structure indicates that the high decomposition temperature of urea, homogeneous dissolution of urea in aluminium sulfate solution, slow OH- release by urea in the hydrothermal system, and strong coordination ability of SO42− effectively restrain the hydrolysis of Al3+ and facilitate the formation of the solid spherical precursor Al4(OH)10SO4. The solid microspherical α-Al2O3 powder is prepared by heat treatment of the precursor.