Description:
Reference #: 00961
The University of South Carolina is offering licensing opportunities for a Method of Making a Homogeneously Porous Solid Matrix with Tunable Porosity and Pore Size.
Invention Description:
The subject invention is a method of making homogeneously porous ceramics. The process is based on the co-precipitation method and allows for the explicit control of the porosity and pore size.
The demonstrated sacrificial template methodology provides an alternative means of tailoring properties of a porous ceramic for particular applications in catalysis, fuel cells, and gas separation membranes. Methods such as modified pechini, combustion, hydrothermal, and co-precipitation are the most commonly used ones. Among these methods, the co-precipitation method is advantageous in that the co-precipitate has not only smaller particle sizes but also higher degree of homogeneity.
Background:
Porous ceramics are a technologically important branch of functional materials for a variety of physical and chemical systems. The properties of porous ceramics depend critically on porosity, pore morphology, pore size, and distribution. By virtually controlling the composition and microstructure (porosity, pore morphology, pore size and distribution), a porous ceramic can exhibit very different physical and chemical properties to meet specific applications. To produce these application-specific porous ceramics, adequate fabrication techniques are required. A traditional way to make a porous ceramic is to mix the functional ceramic material with a fugitive pore former. When such a mixture is fired at elevated temperatures, the pore former is thermally decomposed into vapor phase, leaving behind pores within the original structure.
Potential Applications:
Porous ceramics have a variety of applications in filters, sorbents, catalysis, gas separation membranes, and fuel cells. The first uses of porous ceramics was mainly in the industrial field, but with further development of the material, slowly this product is also making its way into household use, with its applications increasing day by day. However, its relative strength makes this material the obvious choice when producing certain key elements for the home, which need to be both strong but financially reasonable. Two very common and popular applications of porous ceramics in modern households are water filtration systems and flooring. Ceramic is becoming increasingly common not just in the pump industry but also in every industry – from aerospace to semiconductor, military to medical.
Advantages and Benefits:
The formed porous network resulting from the subject invention is inexpensive to produce, environmentally friendly, mechanically strong, homogeneous, interconnected, and uniformly distributed across the entire sample.