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Synchrotron Microtomography of Polymer Derived Macroporous SiOC Ceramics
Author(s) -
Choudhary Abhisek,
Agrawal Ashish K.,
Pratihar Swadesh K.,
Singh Balwant,
Behera Shantanu K.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
advanced engineering materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.938
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 1527-2648
pISSN - 1438-1656
DOI - 10.1002/adem.201900172
Subject(s) - materials science , ceramic , porosity , interconnectivity , composite material , synchrotron , polymer , porous medium , sphericity , optics , physics , artificial intelligence , computer science
Porous ceramics have found immense applications in leading technological areas including porous burners, catalyst supports, and filtration media. It is extremely important to understand morphological features of highly porous ceramic bodies, and extract detailed quantitative information, including porosity, pore size distribution, interconnectivity, pore anisotropy, and sphericity. Synchrotron X‐ray microtomography has evolved as an excellent technique to acquire information on the complex three‐dimensional geometry and topology of reticulated structures. In this work, macroporous silicon oxycarbide ceramics are fabricated by positive replication of polyurethane sponge with the use of a preceramic polymer, and their topology has been studied by synchrotron X‐ray microtomography. Further, ceramic bodies have been prepared with progressive increase in the preceramic polymer concentration in the solution, and the ensuing change in the porous morphology of the structures have been studied. The results indicate the formation of excellent reticulated ceramics with 88–92% porosity, and with dense and uniform struts. The pore size distribution is uniform with very good sphericity and minimal anisotropy. The overall porosity indicates excellent interconnectivity with highly negative Euler numbers. The work presents a comprehensive analysis of reticulated ceramic bodies fabricated by preceramic polymer pyrolysis route.