Abstract
The effect of various experimental conditions on deposition efficiency (D.E.), i.e., the ratio of the deposited to flowed amount of powder in electrophoretic deposition (EPD), was investigated using α-Al2O3 powder dispersed in ethanol. The flowed amount was estimated with a simple equipment, i.e., a suspension container with a barrier and shutter which separated it into two parts. The effect of applied voltage, the amount of added HCl solution in disperse medium and the particle size distribution of the powder on the D.E. were studied. All D. E. values obtained in this study did not exceed 100%. This means that all of the flowed particles did not immediately deposit on the electrode. The fast flow, caused by a high electric field or a high zeta potential of the particles, slightly decreased the D. E. value. A slight change of dispersion state by addition of HCl solution to the suspension largely affected the D. E. value. Furthermore, the existence of a critical limit in the particle size distribution of starting powder for large D. E. was suggested.
