Low shrinkage and high mechanical properties Al2O3 ceramics prepared by vat photopolymerization without alone debinding

In this paper, a low-shrinkage, high mechanical properties vat photopolymerization 3D-printed alumina ceramic preparation process without alone debinding was investigated for the first time through the optimization of photosensitive resin formulations. The low-viscosity alumina ceramic slurry with a solid content of 65 vol% could be 3D-printed into a green body. When the sintering temperature was 1620 °C, the bending strength and Vickers hardness of the Al 2 O 3 ceramics reached a maximum value of 482.5 MPa and 13.5 GPa. At this point, the shrinkage of the samples in different directions (X, Y, and Z axis) was 8.7 %, 9.2 %, and 9.4 %, respectively. Moreover, mullite was generated in situ during the sintering process with the formation mechanism analyzed. The research findings indicate that the introduction of silicon-containing polymers into the slurry can significantly hold promise for breakthroughs in industrial applications of large-sized and complex-structured alumina ceramics.