In situ porous alumina/aluminum titanate ceramic composite prepared by spark plasma sintering from nanostructured powders

In situ porous alumina/aluminum titanate ceramic composite was fabricated by spark plasma sintering of nanostructured alumina/titania composite powders. The phase composition and microstructure of the nanostructured composite powders and the fabricated porous bulk ceramic composite were investigated by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy, respectively. The results indicate that a large number of pores were distributed homogeneously in the porous alumina/aluminum titanate ceramic composite, which possessed excellent mechanical properties.