Electrophoretic deposition of doped ceria in anti-gravity set-up

An innovative anti-gravity set-up has been designed and fabricated to consolidate doped ceria powder by electrophoretic deposition. In this set-up, the charged ceramic powders dispersed in non-aqueous suspension moved upward in opposite direction to gravity under the influence of an external applied field and were consequently deposited on the lower face of upper electrode placed horizontally parallel above the counter electrode. Electrophoretic deposition using this innovative technique was found more superior to the conventional electrophoretic deposition using vertically arranged electrodes where a very broad particle size range was used. The deposit thus obtained predominantly contained finer particles which can move relatively easily against gravity. It enabled formation of homogeneous compact films. This paper presents the results of detailed investigation on the effect of different process parameters such as concentration of particles, duration, addition of charge modifier etc. on forming a deposit. A comparison of deposition yield in anti-gravity set-up vis-à-vis conventional set-up is also presented.