What Is Ceramic Foam?

The development of foamed ceramic materials began in the 1970s and is a porous material with high temperature characteristics. Its pore size ranges from nanometer to micrometer, its porosity is between 20% ~ 95%, and its operating temperature is from normal temperature to 1600 .

The development of foam ceramic materials began in the 1970s and is a

Foam ceramics can generally be divided into two categories, namely open-cell (reticulated) ceramic materials and closed-cell ceramic materials, depending on whether each cavity has a solid wall surface. If the solid that forms the foam is only contained in the pore edges, it is called an open-cell ceramic material, and its pores are interconnected; if there is a solid wall surface, the foam is called a closed-cell ceramic material, and the pores in The ceramic substrates are separated from each other. However, most of the foam ceramics have both open-cell pores and a small number of closed-cell pores. Generally, pores with a diameter of less than 2nm are microporous materials; those with pores between 2 and 50nm are mesoporous materials; those with pores above 50nm are macroporous materials.

U.S. invention invented since 1978

China started research on foam ceramics in the early 1980s. In the past 20 years, more than a dozen research institutions and manufacturers have reported the research of foam ceramic products. However, China's foam ceramics still has a certain gap compared with foreign countries in terms of overall technical level. Foam ceramics have a three-dimensional space

1. Foaming method: Using the foaming reaction method, foam ceramic products with complex shapes can be prepared to meet the application of some special occasions; adding appropriate ceramic powder

Gel injection molding process

Application fields of foam ceramics

The application of foam ceramics began in the 1870s, when it was only used as uranium purification material and bacterial filter material. With the continuous expansion of the scope of use of foam ceramics, its application fields have gradually expanded, from the fields of filtration and thermal engineering to the fields of heat insulation, sound absorption, electronics, optoelectronics, sensing, environmental biology and chemistry.

Foam ceramic hot industry

1. The microporous membrane ceramic separation membrane has the advantages of acid and alkali resistance, corrosion resistance, high temperature resistance, aging resistance, long service life, etc., and has been recognized by people. It has been developed and applied to the food industry, biochemical industry, energy engineering, and the environment. Engineering, electronics and many other fields. With the development of materials science, the preparation and application of nano-scale porous inorganic membranes have become a research hotspot.

2. Biomaterials Many scientific research units are committed to the research of porous hydroxyapatite bioceramic materials. Porous hydroxyapatite bioceramics are prepared by adding pore-forming agents and making foam ceramics. The interconnected pores are beneficial to the microcirculation of tissue fluid and promote the infiltration and growth of cells. The developed foamed ceramic hydroxyapatite artificial bone and prosthetic eye have been used in clinical experiments, and have attracted the attention of medical and material science circles.

3. Foam ceramic material for food and sanitary industry. Foam ceramic has high temperature resistance, corrosion resistance and good biological and chemical properties, so it can be used for the concentration of physiologically active substances such as enzymes, viruses, vaccines, nucleic acids and proteins in the pharmaceutical industry. Separation, refining, etc. In the food and beverage industry, it is particularly suitable for the filtration of beverages with low color, aroma and taste requirements and low alcohol, and it is expected to play a huge role in the production of beer.

4. Environmental materials With the development of modern industry, more and more harmful gases and waste water are being emitted in various industries. If not handled properly, it will seriously affect the living environment of human beings, so environmental protection has become the theme of the times. Foam ceramics have been used in automotive catalytic converters for a long time. Foam ceramic catalyst for deodorization can catalyze the combustion of organic solvents and malodorous gases in wastewater to achieve the purpose of deodorization and purification. High-permeability foam ceramic with high temperature resistance and sufficient thermal shock resistance can effectively remove high-temperature dust-containing gas. In the process of urban sewage treatment, foam ceramic materials have also become materials for aeration treatment.

5. Insulation material Foam ceramic has the characteristics of low thermal conductivity and excellent thermal shock resistance. It is an ideal heat-resistant material. The typical heat-resistant material made of foam ceramic is heat-resistant brick, which is made of ZrO ₂ , SiC, magnesium salt, and calcium salt. It has a temperature of up to 1600 ° C and is the best thermal insulation material in the world. "Insulation materials" are used for thermal insulation of space shuttle shells and forced sweating of missile heads ^[1] .