Preparation of novel reticulated porous ceramics with textured structures enabled by in situ generated interlocking Al₂O₃ platelets

Al₂O₃ reticulated porous ceramics (ARPCs) are extensively employed in high-temperature catalytic support, molten metal filtration, and porous media combustion because of their high specific surface area and heat resistance. The high specific surface area is usually maintained by high apparent porosity, but unfortunately, the accompanying poor mechanical properties severely compromise the durability of ARPCs. To synergistically improve the mechanical properties and apparent porosity, a new strategy was proposed to prepare ARPCs with textured structures of in situ interlocking Al₂O₃ platelet integration using vacuum impregnation Na₃AlF₆–SiC–Al₂O₃ slurry technique. The obtained textural structure had a significant strengthening effect on ARPCs, attributed to the increased contact area among non-equiaxed grains, and the compact growth of Al₂O₃ platelets with high aspect ratios provided the high apparent porosity and specific surface area of ARPCs, resulting in compressive strength as high as 3.93 MPa at an apparent porosity of 85.31 %, as well as the degradation of Congo red up to 75.35 % due to the Al₂O₃ platelets facilitating the loading of TiO₂.