A series of low-toxicity gelcasting systems has been developed. The reagents used in these systems have very low acute toxicity. The new systems perform at least as well as, and in some cases better than, the original acrylamidebased system. The development of these systems is described herein, including the search for new gel compositions, the study of suspensions made with the new gel precursor solutions, and pyrolysis of the dried gels and gelcast parts. Applications of the new gelcasting systems include complex silicon nitride parts, large-diameter rings, rapid prototyping by green machining, and metal-powder gel casting.

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