Effects of starch addition amount on microstructure, mechanical properties and room temperature thermal conductivity of porous Y2SiO5 ceramics

Y 2 SiO 5 ceramics were prepared by dry pressing and pressureless sintering using different amount of starch addition as pore-forming agent. With the starch addition amount increases from 10 to 40   wt%, the relative density for porous Y 2 SiO 5 ceramics ranges from 70.4% to 38.3%, the mean pore size ranges from 1.02 to 2.01   μm, the compressive strength ranges from 28.25 to 1.43   MPa, and the room temperature thermal conductivities ranges from 0.81 to 0.18   W/m   K. The relatively high strength and low thermal conductivity of porous Y 2 SiO 5 ceramics are believed to be useful for future high-temperature insulating applications.