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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 February 2011
To improve the dispersion of silicon nitride whiskers in aqueous suspensions, a standard dispersant used in glass fiber industry, 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APS) is added. It was found that the viscosity of the whisker suspensions is lowered and the centrifuged density of the suspensions is increased with the addition of the APS. The pH values of suspensions before and after the addition of APS indicate that APS extracts H+ ions from the solutions and the adsorption of APS on silicon nitride is saturated in our experiment. Our results indicate a colloidal route to the processing of ceramic composites with silicon nitride whiskers as reinforcements.