Additive manufacturing of silica ceramics from aqueous acrylamide based suspension

Abstract The UV curable acrylamide-based suspension is an environmental material used for digital light processing (DLP) which is currently one of the most accurate additive manufacturing methods. In this paper, a high loaded and low viscosity silica suspension was developed based on acrylamide system, moreover, the influence of dispersant, solid loading and ball milling time on the rheological properties of silica suspensions was investigated. Furthermore, in order to understand the polymerization reaction process, the effect of photoinitiator concentration and ratio between monomer (AM) and the cross-linking agent (MBAM) on curing properties of silica suspension was discussed. Finally, following the study of rheological properties and curing characteristics, the testing results of sintered silica ceramics showed a density and flexural strength of 1.42 g/cm 3 and 13.31 MPa at 1200 °C respectively.