Porous Alumina Template by Selective Dissolution of Ni from Sintered Al₂O₃-Ni Composite

In the present study, porous alumina template was fabricated by selective dissolution of Ni from the pressureless sintered Al₂O₃-Ni. Alumina and Ni powders of 99.9% purity were subjected to ball milling (200 rpm, 1 h, 10:1 ball-to-powder weight ratio) in order to get homogeneous mechanical mixture. The milled powder was compacted using hydraulic press under the uniaxial pressure of 400 MPa for 1 min, and the pressureless sintering was carried out in reducing atmosphere (H₂) at 1400 °C. Ni was then selectively and completely dissolved from the 1-mm-thick sintered disk of diameter 16 mm in 1 M HCl + 3 wt.% FeCl₃ solution to get the porous template of alumina. The porous alumina template was found to have sufficient compressive strength. BET, x-ray diffraction, optical microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy studies along with energy dispersive spectroscopy were performed to study microstructural evolutions, bonding characteristics, and distributions of Ni before and after the dissolution of the sintered composite.