Development, Synthesis, and Characterization of Novel Titanium Foams

Abstract

Titanium foams have been previously developed for potential use as orthopedic and dental implants, but have other industrial uses as well. Current foam synthesis methods mainly involve compaction of titanium powders under an argon atmosphere and the expansion of trapped argon to create pores during sintering, plasma-spraying, space-filling methods with titanium powder and ammonium hydrogen carbonate, and freeze-casting. A new method for synthesizing titanium foams through freeze-casting titanium powders with camphene as a space-filler and vacuum sintering was developed. Titanium powders are freeze-cast with camphene and the camphene is sublimated prior to vacuum sintering. The method is novel in its choice of space filler and sintering conditions for creating titanium foams. The foams were characterized through uniaxial compression tests, scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction.