Crystal Templating with Mutually Miscible Solvents: A Simple Path to Hierarchical Porosity

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel ice templating method using mutually miscible solvents to create materials with hierarchical porosity across multiple levels, demonstrated on ceramics and polymers.

Contribution

It presents a simple, one-step process for fabricating hierarchical porous materials using solidification of mutually miscible solvents, expanding the capabilities of ice templating.

Findings

Hierarchical porosity with up to three levels achieved.

Applicable to both ceramic and polymer materials.

Demonstrates versatility of the solvent solidification approach.

Abstract

Ice templating, a route where ice crystals are used to template macroporosity, has been used to process a variety of materials with one level of macropores. We demonstrate here a variant of ice templating based on the solidification of mutually miscible solvents. The solidification of different phases, each defined by their own size and morphology, provides a simple one-step processing route for materials with hierarchical porosity defined by up to three levels of macroporosity. These concepts are demonstrated with both ceramic (yttria-stabilized zirconia) and polymer (polyvinyl alcohol) materials.