Patent ID: 8454885

Claim:
A method of forming fused ceramic articles comprising: providing shaped porous green bodies of particulate batch material, said batch material including inorganic source compounds and binder; forming a homogeneous infiltrating solution which is a sol gel precursor mixture of monomers and oligomers by reacting pre-ceramic organometallic compounds or pre-ceramic metal salts and an organic solvent in the presence of an acid catalyst; infiltrating said porous green bodies with said infiltrating solution to form infiltrated bodies having pores filled with said infiltrating solution, wherein said pores are filled with said infiltrating solution without applying pressure by submerging said porous bodies in said infiltrating solution for not more than 1 minute; drying said infiltrated bodies to remove most of said solvent from said infiltrated bodies and then to form a polymer of said pre-ceramic compound in said infiltrated bodies to form dried bodies, wherein said polymer does not form until about 80 volume of said organic solvent evaporates; and firing said dried bodies at a temperature to form fused ceramic articles including a first ceramic material derived from said inorganic source compounds and a second ceramic material derived from said pre-ceramic compound, wherein said infiltrating solution employs said pre-ceramic compound in an amount effective to enable said second ceramic material to comprise 2-20% by weight of said fused ceramic article.