Neutron transmission imaging is a technique ideally suited for imaging various flow phenomena in consolidatedporous media because the porous matrix is virtually transparent to thermal neutrons. Hydrogen-containing fluids, however, provide a contrast in the image due to their large thermal neutron cross-sections. This technique has uncovered new phenomena in the study of dissolution andprecipita...

This paper reviews recent work on SOFC anode fabrication at the University of Pennsylvania. In this work, anode fabrication is based on the preparation of a porous YSZ matrix, into which electronic and catalytic components are added by impregnation of the appropriate metal salts. First, the methods used to prepare porous YSZ are described, along with a description of the structures that are obt...

We report the design and synthesis of a novel kind of organic-inorganic hybrid material via the incorporation of europium (III) β-diketonate complexes (Eu(TTA)3, TTA = 2-thenoyltrifluoroacetone) into one-dimensional (1D) porous boron nitride (BN) microfibers. The developed Eu(TTA)3@BN hybrid composites with typical 1D fibrous morphology exhibit bright visible red-light emission on UV illuminati...

The present work describes for the first time the production of self-supporting low gelatin density (<10 w/v%) porous scaffolds using methacrylamide-modified gelatin as an extracellular matrix mimicking component. As porous scaffolds starting from low gelatin concentrations cannot be realized with the conventional additive manufacturing techniques in the abscence of additives, we applied an ind...

Five methods of preparation of macroporous hydrogels are described and compared: precipitation polymerization, polymerization in presence of salt, polymerization in presence of gas-releasing compound, lyophilization and electrospinning. Crosslinked copolymers based on 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate were selected as model hydrogels. Hydrogels were characterized by SEM microscopy, porosity, communic...

Abstract--This work presents the effects of air infiltration on heat and mass transfer in a porous matrix. The vertical boundaries of the porous system are partially permeable in order to simulate the holes or the cracks in the porous insulation materials. An efficient numerical scheme accounting for phase change is employed to solve the appropriate governing equations along with the boundary c...

X-ray computed micro tomography (CT) is an alternative technique to the classical methods such as mercury intrusion (MIP) and gas pycnometry (HP) to obtain the porosity, pore-size distribution, and density of porous materials. Besides the advantage of being a nondestructive method, it gives not only bulk properties, but also spatially resolved information. In the present work, uniaxially presse...

A magnetic semiconductor/metal nanocomposite with a nanostructured silicon wafer as base material and incorporated metallic nanostructures (Ni, Co, NiCo) is fabricated in two electrochemical steps. First, the silicon template is anodized in an HF-electrolyte to obtain a porous structure with oriented pores grown perpendicular to the surface. This etching procedure is carried out either in formi...

A novel sponge-like porous C/Sn composite is synthesized by dispersing SnO2 nanoparticles into a softtemplate polymer matrix followed by carbonization. The mesoporous C/Sn anodes can deliver a capacity as high as 1300mAh g 1 after 450 charge/discharge cycles, and provide a capacity of 180mAh g 1 even at 4000 mA g 1 charge/discharge current density. An extra reversible capacity over the theoreti...

A theoretical and experimental study of the acoustic properties of porous materials containing dead-end (or partially opened) porosity was recently proposed by Dupont, Leclaire, Sicot, Gong, and Panneton [J. Appl. Phys. 110, 094903 (2011)]. The present article provides a description of partially opened porosity systems and their numerous potential applications in the general context of the stud...