ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING OF CERAMIC STRUCTURES AND CORRESPONDING APPLICATIONS

Abstract

In this thesis, additive manufacturing of ceramic structures was studied, in terms of both direct and indirect 3D printing processes. For direct selective laser sintering of ceramic, the fabrication of black zirconia was proposed for highly improved fiber laser absorption, and thereby increasing the printability and leading to relatively dense microstructure. For indirect ceramic 3D printing, both rheological and optical properties of feedstock slurry were investigated to optimize the process. Based on this, alumina structures with good mechanical properties and refined feature size were fabricated. The printed ceramic parts were further employed in water treatment fields, combined with surface modification. Such hierarchically hybrid structures presented excellent functional effects, such as a high oil/water separation efficiency and photocatalytic performances. Promisingly, the ceramic parts can be easily customized for various applications by 3D printing, in terms of both macro-configurations and microstructures.