There are different processes for the production of zirconia beads, which can be roughly divided into three preparation methods according to the size of the zirconium beads. At present, the more mature production processes on the market include three methods: isostatic pressing, rolling, and droplet.
1. Roll into a ball
In addition to the forming process of cold isostatic pressing, rolling into balls is also an important forming method of ceramic balls. This method has the characteristics of simple production equipment, raw materials, simple operation, good sphericity and easy sintering. Although the strength of the ball is not as strong as that of cold isostatic pressing, the preparation cost is lower, and the rolling method can produce balls of various sizes in the range of 0.1mm-7mm.
2. Droplet forming
For small size zirconia beads (0.05mm to a few tenths of a millimeter), the titration method can be used to shape the green ceramic beads. The zirconia ceramic beads produced by the titration method can be sintered at low temperature and have no internal pores, and have the properties of high density, high strength, high toughness, and low wear.
Features: The size range is narrow and uniform, and the internal and external structures are consistent. But the production capacity is limited and the cost is high
Application: Dispersion and grinding of high-performance materials such as positive and negative electrodes and separators of lithium batteries, multilayer ceramic capacitors, paints, and coatings.
Production size range: 0.01-0.3mm
3. Press molding
Larger zirconium beads can only be formed by pressing, mainly dry pressing and isostatic pressing.
Dry pressing has the characteristics of convenient and simple operation method, less technology and less capital investment. However, due to uneven pressure distribution, the internal distribution of the green body is inconsistent, which affects the comprehensive performance of the product. In order to improve the density of the green body, it is often used in actual production. method of increasing pressure. However, the pressure is not as high as possible. When the ultimate pressure is exceeded, the pressure will reduce the density of the green body, which is caused by spallation.
The green body formed by isostatic pressing has high strength, high density and uniformity, and can prepare high-performance and high-quality grinding media balls. Therefore, two methods can be combined to produce high-performance ceramic balls in industry.
