Micro powder injection moulding

Powder injection molding (PIM) has emerged as a viable method for producing complex shaped parts at a competitive cost. The PIM process, which consists of feedstock preparation, injection molding, debinding and sintering, uses a combination of powder metallurgy and plastic injection molding technologies to produce net-shape metal, ceramic or hard materials components [R.M. German, A. Bose, Injection Molding of Metals and Ceramics, Metal Powder Industries Federation, Princeton, NJ 1997]. Using very fine powders and a modified feedstock and injection process, PIM can also be applied to microstructures and microcomponents (micro PIM). In this study, ceramic microcomponents of alumina (Al2O3) were produced and analyzed. It was shown that the smallest achievable structures were about ten times the particle size. For example, with 400 nm alumina particles, structures of 5 mu m were successfully injection molded and sintered. As a wide variety of metals and ceramics can be processed, including functional and catalytic materials, micro PIM opens up new avenues for the mass.production of microcomponents for the medical and automotive industries and for applications in (bio)chemistry and sensor technology. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.