Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 February 2011
This paper describes a novel colloidal route for the preparation of hollowmullite ceramic microspheres with sizes in the range of 10 μm. An emulsiontechnique was combined with a water extraction sol-gel process, to form anaqueous droplet dispersion and gel the resulting droplets by extractingwater with a dehydrating liquid. The liquid-filled gelled microcapsules werethen dried and fired to form hollow ceramic microspheres. Importantprocessing variables controlling the microspherc morphology were determinedand a formation mechanism was proposed. Due to its potential applications inmicroelectronic packaging, mullite was selected as the model material forthe present work, but the synthesis technique may be used for making othersingle or multiphase ceramic compositions