Preparation and characterization of alumina-zeolite foam

Ceramic foam shows a significant potential of development and application, essentially due to the emergence of environmental preoccupations. Various methods have been applied in the fabrication of ceramic foams. This paper described the preparation of alumina-zeolite foam through polymeric sponge technique with the use of ovalbumin based aqueous slurries. 50 to 80 vol % of alumina was mixed with zeolite of clinoptilolite type and sintered at 1350C. The effect of different alumina loading on alumina-zeolite foams properties was investigated. The addition of alumina has given a significant increment to foams apparent porosity. However, a slight reduction occurred to its bulk density and strength. Ceramic foams with 60 and 70 vol% of alumina demonstrated higher porosity which were 71.14% and 84.12% respectively with flexural strength more than 1 MPa. Therefore, these foams have potential use in a range of applications including filter and catalysis.