A method for reducing the loss of magnesium during the sintering of aluminumoxidearticles, such as ceramic discharge vessels for lighting applications.Magnesium oxide isadded to aluminum oxide articles to control grain growth during sintering, butthe sinteringcauses magnesium loss from the article. In order to address this problem, oneor morealuminum oxide articles that are enriched in magnesium oxide are added to thesinteringfurnace to stem the loss of magnesium oxide in the remaining articles. Theenrichedaluminum oxide article is made by soaking a porous aluminum oxide article inan aqueoussolution of magnesium nitrate and heating the porous article to convert themagnesiumnitrate to magnesium oxide. The enriched articles may then be added in one orseverallocations to the sintering furnace, where the magnesium from the enrichedarticles isreleased to suppress the magnesium loss.
展开▼
