The powder injection molding process having advantages in manufacturing three-dimensional precision parts essentially requires a debinding process before sintering to remove the binders used for preparing feedstock. In this study, powder injection molding of translucent alumina was performed, and carbon dioxide (CO2) is used as a supercritical fluid that makes it possible to remove a large amount of binder, which is paraffin wax. The relationship between the optical property of translucent alumina and the debinding condition (temperature and pressure) of supercritical CO2 was investigated. As temperature and pressure increased, extraction rate of the binder showed rising tendency and average grain size after sintering process was relatively fine. On the other hand, optical transmittance was reduced. As a result, the debinding condition at 50˚C and 20 MPa that represents the lowest extraction rate, 8.19x10-3m2/sec, corresponds to the largest grain size of 14.7μm and the highest optical transmittance of 45.2%.

• Kim, Hyung Soo(Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Hanyang University)
• Byun, Jong Min( Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Hanyang University) | Byun, Jong Min
• Suk, Myung Jin( Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering, Kangwon National University) | Suk, Myung Jin
• Kim, Young Do( Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Hanyang University) | Kim, Young Do