Focuses on the effects of porosity and microcracking on the physical properties of ceramics, particularly nominally single phase ceramics. The book elucidates the fundamental interrelationships determining the development and use of materials for actual and potential engineering needs. It aims to help in the understanding of porosity effects on other materials, from ceramic composties, cements and plasters to rocks, metals and polymers.;College or university bookshops may order five or more copies at a special student price, available on request.

Porous ceramics have recently gained growing importance in industry because of their many applications like filters, absorbers, dust collectors, thermal insulation, hot gas collectors, dielectric resonators, bioreactors, bone replacement and automobile engine components. Generally, porous ceramics have good properties such as mechanical strength, abrasion resistance, and chemical and thermal stability. These porous network ceramic structures also have relatively low density, low mass and low thermal conductivity. Furthermore, permeability is one of the most important properties of porous ceramics for different applications such as membranes because this property directly relates to the pressure drop during filtration. Pore size control is one key factor in fabrication of porous ceramics. The size of particles and their distribution of the raw materials, manufacturing techniques, types of binder used, distribution of binder, and sintering affect the final porosity and pore connectivity, are important things that must be considered during the manufacturing of a porous ceramic body. Therefore, the development of porous ceramic research requires sufficient mechanical and chemical stability as well as permeability. This book covers a wide range of topics such as porous ceramic structure and properties, preparation, simulation and fabrication, sintering, applications for bioceramics, sensors, magnetics and energy saving.

The development of porous ceramic materials has presented a new challenge to various industries, because porous ceramics are more durable in severe environments and their surface characteristics permit them to satisfy very specific requirements.

Approximately four million years of human history has passed. We have been using materials to make a variety of tools. The first materials used were naturally occurring materials such as animal bones, stones, wood etc.; and some of these familiar materials are porous. Porous materials are so familiar that they are sometimes forgotten or ignored. The taste experience of ice cream is created not only by adjusting ingre dients, but also by including air as an ingredient, i.e. pores that give the smooth texture of ice cream. This book is designed to describe and explain about pores, the synthesis of materials with pores (porous materials), and applications of porous materi als. This book is intended for engineers and scientists of different disciplines and specialities, and is expected to be useful in the design and synthesis of porous materials for existing as well as potential new applications. Let us rediscover pores. K. Ishizaki, S. Komameni and M. Nanko January 1998 1 Introduction 1.1 WHAT ARE POROUS MATERIALS? Porous materials are dermed as solids containing pores. Figure 1.1 shows different porous materials. Generally speaking, porous materials have a porosity of 0.2-0.95. The porosity means the fraction of pore volume to the total volume. Porous materials have been used in various applications from daily necessities, such as purifying drinking water by activated carbon or porous ceramics, to uses in modern industries, for example removing dusts from high purity process gases for semiconductor production.

Ceramic oxides typically have a combination of properties that make them attractive for many applications compared with other materials. This book attempts to compile, unify, and present a recent development for the production techniques, such as electrochemical, foaming, and microwave sintering, of rare earth ceramic oxide materials. This book presents leading-edge research in this field from around the world. Although there is no formal partition of the book, the chapters cover several preparation methods for ceramic oxides, especially for coating and electrical applications. In addition, a fabrication foaming technique for porous ceramics with tailored microstructure along with distinctive properties is provided. The information provided in this book is very useful for a board of scientists and engineers from both academia and industry.

Papers from The American Ceramic Society's 31st International Conference on Advanced Ceramics and Composites, held in Daytona Beach, Florida, January 21-26, 2007. Includes papers on porous ceramics ranging from nanoporous to macroporous systems, including foams, honeycombs, 3D scaffolds, interconnected fibers, sintered hollow spheres, and aerogels; ceramics in medical applications; and geopolymers, a new class of totally inorganic, aluminosilicate-based ceramics that are charge balanced by group I oxides (i.e., Na, K, and Cs)

Engineers and scientists alike will find this book to be an excellent introduction to the topic of porous materials, in particular the three main groups of porous materials: porous metals, porous ceramics, and polymer foams. Beginning with a general introduction to porous materials, the next six chapters focus on the processing and applications of each of the three main materials groups. The book includes such new processes as gel-casting and freeze-drying for porous ceramics and self-propagating high temperature synthesis (SHS) for porous metals. The applications discussed are relevant to a wide number of fields and industries, including aerospace, energy, transportation, construction, electronics, biomedical and others. The book concludes with a chapter on characterization methods for some basic parameters of porous materials. Porous Materials: Processing and Applications is an excellent resource for academic and industrial researchers in porous materials, as well as for upper-level undergraduate and graduate students in materials science and engineering, physics, chemistry, mechanics, metallurgy, and related specialties. A comprehensive overview of processing and applications of porous materials – provides younger researchers, engineers and students with the best introduction to this class of materials Includes three full chapters on modern applications - one for each of the three main groups of porous materials Introduces readers to several characterization methods for porous materials, including methods for characterizing pore size, thermal conductivity, electrical resistivity and specific surface area