TY - JOUR A1 - Simon, Sebastian A1 - Gluth, Gregor ED - Rossignol, S. ED - Gluth, Gregor T1 - Unraveling the hardening mechanism during laser-induced slip casting of lithium aluminate-microsilica slurry N2 - Additive manufacturing (AM) of alkali-activated materials is a promising method for producing ceramic precursors, construction elements and other parts. A recently introduced AM process is laser-induced slip casting of lithium aluminate/microsilica slurries, which yields parts with excellent mechanical strengths. To clarify the underlying mechanisms, μ-Raman spectroscopy was applied to parts produced by the process, and the dissolution and hydration of lithium aluminate was studied inter alia using conventional and in-situ X-ray diffraction. The results show that significant dissolution of lithium aluminate occurs, particularly at increased temperatures during laser interaction, which leads to an increase of pH and precipitation of an akopovaite-like Li-Al-CO3 layered double hydroxide. The increase of the pH is likely to induce dissolution of the microsilica and possibly formation of a hydrous lithium aluminosilicate gel. These observations explain the strength evolution of the studied parts and can also aid the development and improvement of related AM methods. KW - Alkali-activated materials KW - Additive manufacturing KW - Laser-induced slip casting KW - Lithium KW - Layered double hydroxide PY - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-520557 SN - 2666-5395 VL - 5 IS - Special issue: Alkali-activated materials and geopolymers in ceramics and beyond SP - 1 EP - 7 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam AN - OPUS4-52055 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -