Ceramic bodies with complex geometries and ceramic shells by freeze casting using ice as mold material

Ceramic bodies with a complex shape and closed ceramic shells encapsulating other components like steel parts were fabricated by the freeze-casting technique using ice as a mold and as core material. The ice molds and cores were simultaneously removed with the frozen suspension liquid of the ceramic slip by subsequent freeze drying. In this way, cores can be eliminated from a closed shell by sublimation through the porosity of the shell. Moreover, the ice cores allowed to transfect other components into porous ceramic bodies. Complex dental parts such as steel rods encapsulated in porous zirconia shells achieved by this ice mold freeze casting are represented in this article.