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Digital light processing 3D printing can be applied to fabricate complex silicon nitride (Si 3 N 4) components. However, because of the surface hydroxyl groups and large refractive index, it is still a foremost challenge to realize a stable photosensitive Si 3 N 4 slurry with combined benefits of low viscosity and large curing depth. In this study, we propose a new formulation strategy to prepare Si 3 N 4 slurry. Starting from the optimization of monomer ratio, we have systematically optimized powder particle size, dispersant and photoinitiator on the rheological properties and curing properties of Si 3 N 4 slurry. Specifically, we have fabricated a stable photosensitive Si 3 N 4 slurry (48 vol%) with a viscosity of 2.09 Pa s (30 s−1), a critical curing energy of 126.09 mJ/cm2 and a maximum curing depth of 80 µm. Finally, based on this optimized slurry, we have successfully obtained complex Si 3 N 4 green body with no defect, which demonstrates great potential to fabricate arbitrary complex ceramic components for various applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, four types of triply periodic minimal surface (TPMS) were implemented to create cellular ceramics via digital light processing (DLP) technology, namely p-cell, gyroid, IWP and s14. The mechanical properties of these TPMS structures were investigated experimentally. Results showed that compressive strength of TPMS structures increases with relative density. IWP and s14 structures exhibit similar mechanical response under stress. In general, all TPMS structures can sustain >2% strain without failure and the compressive strength followed the order of s14 > IWP > gyroid > p-cell. The s14 structure can reach a high compressive strength of 105 MPa at a structural density of 30.5 % while gyroid structure can provide a compressive strength of 5.6 MPa at a very low structural density of 6.7 %. The porosity dependence of Young's modulus of sintered zirconia TPMS demonstrated that the Pabst-Gregorova exponential relation can provide a better prediction than the classical Gibson-Ashby model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs) are environmentally efficient energy conversion devices, but are partially limited by the complicated fabrication procedure. In this work, dense 8 mol% yttria-stabilized zirconia (8YSZ) ceramics were successfully realized through a DLP (digital light processing) stereolithography method and the electrolyte self-supported fuel cell was also tested at 800 °C. The sintering behavior of the as-printed planar samples were investigated and a fully dense ceramic can be achieved at 1450 °C. The total conductivity of the sintered 8YSZ can reach 2.18 × 10−2 S cm−1 at a test temperature of 800 °C, which is acceptable for practical application. For the electrolyte self-supported fuel cell test, a power density of 114.3 mW cm−2 can be achieved when Ni-8YSZ cermet and La 0.8 Sr 0.2 MnO 3 (LSM) were used as anode and cathode. It was demonstrated that 3D printing is a promising processing technique to build up electrolyte self-supported SOFCs with desired structure for the future development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]