Soft Routes to Hard Porous Materials

Porous ceramics play a critical role in thermal management and energy-related applications. Researchers at the Northwestern University MRSEC use thermoreversible gelcasting to form porous ceramics in which pore microstructures are designed through choice of geometry and amount of fugitive phases. The amount and connectivity of the porosity, its tortuosity and permeability influence, for example, the effectiveness of reactions in solid oxide fuel cell or the insulating potential of a thermal barrier.

This X-ray tomograph highlights the continuous porosity attained in gelcast Al₂O₃ produced with 60 vol % fugitive phase.