NOVEL DISPERSANTS OF SILICON CARBIDE AND ALUMINUM NITRIDE

Abstract

Recent advances in ceramics processing indicate that significant materials improvements can be attained by control of dispersion and colloid theology. New results are presented, where natural and synthetic lipopeptide surfactants were discovered to be excellent dispersants of ceramic powders in toluene. Relatively low concentrations of the lipopeptides promoted rapid dispersion of colloidal 0-silicon carbide (SiC) and aluminum nitride (AlN) at slurry concentrations of up to 40 wt% solids. Gravity settling produced up to 5 fold densification improvement over common industrial agents. The new dispersants may find application in a variety of ceramic, pharmaceutical and colloidal processes where superior control of dispersion, slurry rheology and product density are required.