Abstract
Freeze drying of a porous Cu-Sn alloy with unidirectionally aligned pore channels was accomplished by using a composite powder of CuO-$SnO_2$ and camphene. Camphene slurries with CuO-$SnO_2$ content of 3, 5 and 10 vol% were prepared by mixing with a small amount of dispersant at $50^{\circ}C$. Freezing of a slurry was done at $-25^{\circ}C$ while the growth direction of the camphene was unidirectionally controlled. Pores were generated subsequently by sublimation of the camphene during drying in air for 48 h. The green bodies were hydrogen-reduced at $650^{\circ}C$ and then were sintered at $650^{\circ}C$ and $750^{\circ}C$ for 1 h. XRD analysis revealed that the CuO-$SnO_2$ powder was completely converted to Cu-Sn alloy without any reaction phases. The sintered samples showed large pores with an average size of above $100{\mu}m$ which were aligned parallel to the camphene growth direction. Also, the internal walls of the large pores had relatively small pores. The size of the large pores decreased with increasing CuO-$SnO_2$ content due to the change of the degree of powder rearrangement in the slurry. The size of the small pores decreased with increase of the sintering temperature from $650^{\circ}C$ to $750^{\circ}C$, while that of the large pores was unchanged. These results suggest that a porous alloy body with aligned large pores can be fabricated by a freeze-drying and hydrogen reduction process using oxide powders.