Effect of melt superheat on structural uniformity of lotus-type porous metals prepared by unidirectional solidification

Structural uniformity is an important parameter influencing physical and mechanical properties of lotus-type porous metals prepared by directional solidification of metal-gas eutectic (Gasar). The effect of superheat on structural uniformity as well as average porosity, pore morphology of porous metals was studied. The experimental results show that, when the superheat is higher than a critical value (ΔTc), the bubbling or boiling phenomenon will occur and the gas bubbles will form in the melt and float out of the melt. As a result, the final porosity will decrease. In addition, a higher superheat will simultaneously cause a non-uniform porous structure due to the pores coalescence and bubbling phenomenon. Finally, a theoretical model was developed to predict the critical superheat for the hydrogen to escape from the melt and the corresponding escapement ratio of hydrogen content. Considering the escapement of hydrogen, the predicted porosities are in good agreement with the experimental results.

Techniques for the Preparation of Porous Metals

Porous metals have been developed greatly and swiftly in recent years. In this paper, main types of these materials are described briefly, and their preparation methods are related primarily, with the purpose offering some clues for optimizing the producing technology.

Development in applications of porous metals

Applications of porous metal materials are reviewed so far. These applications deal with filtration and separation, energy absorption, electrode matrix, fluid distribution and control, heat exchangers, reaction materials, constructional materials, electromagnetic shielding, biomaterials and so on. All these are expected to promote the improvement of the property and structure for porous metals.

Simultaneous fabrication of porous metals and metallic nanowires via atmospheric pressure plasma-assisted electro-dealloying

Porous metals and metallic nanowires have gained significant attention for their potential applications in catalysis, sensing, and energy storage. Developing a versatile and efficient method for fabricating these functional materials is crucial but remains challenging. Herein, we report a novel and facile electro-dealloying strategy to simultaneously fabricate porous metals and metallic nanowires using atmospheric radio-frequency(RF) capacitively coupled plasmas. The synergistic effect of the heating and plasma sheath’s electric field lead to the nonequilibrium melting of the alloy, resulting continuous ejection of the melted segments to form nanowires and let the unmelted residual parts evolve into a porous structure. This method is applicable to alloys with large melting point differences of their constituent elements, and provides a promising approach to fabricate porous metals and metallic nanowires for a wide range of functional applications.

Porous metal oxides in the role of electrochemical CO_(2) reduction reaction

The global energy-related CO_(2) emissions have rapidly increased as the world economy heavily relied on fossil fuels.This paper explores the pressing challenge of CO_(2) emissions and highlights the role of porous metal oxide materials in the electrocatalytic reduction of CO_(2)(CO_(2)RR).The focus is on the development of robust and selective catalysts,particularly metal and metal-oxide-based materials.Porous metal oxides offer high surface area,enhancing the accessibility to active sites and improving reaction kinetics.The tunability of these materials allows for tailored catalytic behavior,targeting optimized reaction mechanisms for CO_(2)RR.The work also discusses the various synthesis strategies and identifies key structural and compositional features,addressing challenges like high overpotential,poor selectivity,and low stability.Based on these insights,we suggest avenues for future research on porous metal oxide materials for electrochemical CO_(2) reduction.

Capillary Property of Entangled Porous Metallic Wire materials and Its Application in Fluid Buffers:Theoretical Analysis and Experimental Study

Strong impact does serious harm to the military industries so it is necessary to choose reasonable cushioning material and design effective buffers to prevent the impact of equipment.Based on the capillary property entangled porous metallic wire materials(EPMWM),this paper designed a composite buffer which uses EPMWM and viscous fluid as cushioning materials under the low-speed impact of the recoil force device of weapon equipment(such as artillery,mortar,etc.).Combined with the capillary model,porosity,hydraulic diameter,maximum pore diameter and pore distribution were used to characterize the pore structure characteristics of EPMWM.The calculation model of the damping force of the composite buffer was established.The low-speed impact test of the composite buffer was conducted.The parameters of the buffer under low-speed impact were identified according to the model,and the nonlinear model of damping force was obtained.The test results show that the composite buffer with EPMWM and viscous fluid can absorb the impact energy from the recoil movement effectively,and provide a new method for the buffer design of weapon equipment(such as artillery,mortar,etc.).

Static and dynamic design based on hierarchical optimization for materials and structure of porous metals

A static and dynamic collaborative optimization method for materials and structure with uniform periodic microstructure is presented.The sensitivity formulae of hierarchical optimization,i.e.,material design,structure design and integrated design for porous metals,are given.On the base of the hierarchical optimization model,numerical experiments of an MBB beam and a cantilever one were carried out.Based on porous metals bearing multi-functionality,the differences and applicability of hierarchical optimization are discussed in the structure loading field.It is concluded that structure design is mainly oriented to structure efficiency,material design is mainly oriented to multi-functionality,and integrated design is oriented to structure efficiency and multi-functionality.This work provides some useful ideas for the selection of porous metals design method.

Porous metal implants: processing,properties, and challenges

Porous and functionally graded materials have seen extensive applications in modern biomedical devices—allowing for improved site-specific performance;their appreciable mechanical,corrosive,and biocompatible properties are highly sought after for lightweight and high-strength load-bearing orthopedic and dental implants.Examples of such porous materials are metals,ceramics,and polymers.Although,easy to manufacture and lightweight,porous polymers do not inherently exhibit the required mechanical strength for hard tissue repair or replacement.Alternatively,porous ceramics are brittle and do not possess the required fatigue resistance.On the other hand,porous biocompatible metals have shown tailorable strength,fatigue resistance,and toughness.Thereby,a significant interest in investigating the manufacturing challenges of porous metals has taken place in recent years.Past research has shown that once the advantages of porous metallic structures in the orthopedic implant industry have been realized,their biological and biomechanical compatibility—with the host bone—has been followed up with extensive methodical research.Various manufacturing methods for porous or functionally graded metals are discussed and compared in this review,specifically,how the manufacturing process influences microstructure,graded composition,porosity,biocompatibility,and mechanical properties.Most of the studies discussed in this review are related to porous structures for bone implant applications;however,the understanding of these investigations may also be extended to other devices beyond the biomedical field.

Design of multi-layered porous fibrous metals for optimal sound absorption in the low frequency range

We present a design method for calculating and optimizing sound absorption coefficient of multi-layered porous fibrous metals （PFM） in the low frequency range. PFM is simplified as an equivalent idealized sheet with all metallic fibers aligned in one direction and distributed in periodic hexagonal patterns. We use a phenomenological model in the literature to investigate the effects of pore geometrical parameters （fiber diameter and gap） on sound absorption performance. The sound absorption coefficient of multi- layered PFMs is calculated using impedance translation theorem, To demonstrate the validity of the present model, we compare the predicted results with the experimental data. With the average sound absorption （low frequency range） as the objective function and the fiber gaps as the design variables, an optimization method for multi-layered fibrous metals is proposed. A new fibrous layout with given porosity of multi-layered fibrous metals is suggested to achieve optimal low frequency sound absorption. The sound absorption coefficient of the optimal multi-layered fibrous metal is higher than the single- layered fibrous metal, and a significant effect of the fibrous material on sound absorption is found due to the surface Dorosity of the multi-layered fibrous.

Quasi-static and low-velocity impact mechanical behaviors of entangled porous metallic wire material under different temperatures

To improve the defense capability of military equipment under extreme conditions,impact-resistant and high-energy-consuming materials have to be developed.The damping characteristic of entangled porous metallic wire materials(EPMWM)for vibration isolation was previously investigated.In this paper,a study focusing on the impact-resistance of EPMWM with the consideration of ambient temperature is presented.The quasi-static and low-velocity impact mechanical behavior of EPMWM under different temperatures(25℃-300℃)are systematically studied.The results of the static compression test show that the damping energy dissipation of EPMWM increases with temperature while the nonlinear damping characteristics are gradually enhanced.During the impact experiments,the impact energy loss rate of EPMWM was between 65%and 85%,while the temperatures increased from 25℃to 300℃.Moreover,under the same drop impact conditions,the overall deformation of EPMWM decreases in the temperature range of 100℃-200℃.On the other hand,the impact stiffness,energy dissipation,and impact loss factor of EPMWM significantly increase with temperature.This can be attributed to an increase in temperature,which changes the thermal expansion coefficient and contact state of the internal wire helixes.Consequently,the energy dissipation mode(dry friction,air damping,and plastic deformation)of EPMWM is also altered.Therefore,the EPMWM may act as a potential candidate material for superior energy absorption applications.

Numerical and experimental evaluation for density-related thermal insulation capability of entangled porous metallic wire material

Entangled porous metallic wire material(EPMWM)has the potential as a thermal insulation material in defence and engineering.In order to optimize its thermophysical properties at the design stage,it is of great significance to reveal the thermal response mechanism of EPMWM based on its complex structural effects.In the present work,virtual manufacturing technology(VMT)was developed to restore the physics-based 3D model of EPMWM.On this basis,the transient thermal analysis is carried out to explore the contact-relevant thermal behavior of EPMWM,and then the spiral unit containing unique structural information are further extracted and counted.In particular,the thermal resistance network is numerically constructed based on the spiral unit through the thermoelectric analogy method to accurately predict the effective thermal conductivity(ETC)of EPMWM.Finally,the thermal diffusivity and specific heat of the samples were obtained by the laser thermal analyzer to calculate the ETC and thermal insulation factor of interest.The results show that the ETC of EPMWM increases with increasing temperature or reducing density under the experimental conditions.The numerical prediction is consistent with the experimental result and the average error is less than 4%.

Catalytic removal of volatile organic compounds using ordered porous transition metal oxide and supported noble metal catalysts

Most of volatile organic compounds （VOCs） are harmful to the atmosphere and human health. Cata‐lytic combustion is an effective way to eliminate VOCs. The key issue is the availability of high per‐formance catalysts. Many catalysts including transition metal oxides, mixed metal oxides, and sup‐ported noble metals have been developed. Among these catalysts, the porous ones attract much attention. In this review, we focus on recent advances in the synthesis of ordered mesoporous and macroporous transition metal oxides, perovskites, and supported noble metal catalysts and their catalytic oxidation of VOCs. The porous catalysts outperformed their bulk counterparts. This excel‐lent catalytic performance was due to their high surface areas, high concentration of adsorbed oxy‐gen species, low temperature reducibility, strong interaction between noble metal and support and highly dispersed noble metal nanoparticles and unique porous structures. Catalytic oxidation of carbon monoxide over typical catalysts was also discussed. We made conclusive remarks and pro‐posed future work for the removal of VOCs.

Manufacture, characterization and application of porous metal-fiber sintered felt used as mass-transfer-controlling medium for direct methanol fuel cells

Fabrication, characterization and performance of a porous metal-fiber sintered felt （PMFSF） based on multi-tooth cutting and solid-phase sintering were studied. The PMFSF was used as the anodic methanol barrier in a passive air-breathing direct methanol fuel cell to mitigate the effects of methanol crossover. Compared with the commercial SUS316L felt made of bundle-drawn fibers, this self-made PMFSF has larger pore diameter, polarized pore distribution, irregular fiber shape, rougher surface, lower mass flow resistance and evident hydrophobicity. The results reveal that the use of a PMFSF significantly enhances the cell performance since it helps to maintain a balance between the reactant and product management while depressing methanol crossover. The PMFSF with a porosity of 70% yields the highest cell performance at a methanol concentration of 4 mol/L.

Fractal dimension for porous metal materials of FeCrAl fiber

The FeCrA1 fiber was used to prepare porous metal materials with air-laid technology, and then followed by sintering at 1300 ℃ for a holding period of 2 h in the vacuum. In addition, a novel fractal soft, which was developed based on the fractal theory and the computer image processing technology, was explored to describe the pore structure of porous metal materials. Furthermore, the fractal dimension of pore structure was calculated by the soft and the effects of magnification and porosity on ffactal dimension were also discussed. The results show that the fractal dimension decreases with increase in the magnification, while it increases continuously with the porosity enhancing. The interrelationship between the fractal dimension and the magnification or porosity can be presented by the equation of D=α_0exp（-x/α_1）＋α_2和D=k_2-（k_1-k_2）/[1＋exp（（θ-k_0）/k_3）], respectively.

Uniaxial tensile behavior of porous metal fiber sintered sheet

A novel porous metal fiber sintered sheet （PMFSS） with a three-dimensional reticulated structure was fabricated by multi-tooth cutting and high-temperature solid-phase sintering process with copper fibers. A uniaxial tensile test was conducted to investigate the effect of fiber length and natural aging factor on the tensile properties of the PMFSS. Results indicated that, under given stress, the increase of fiber length helped reinforce the tensile strength. The elongation of the PMFSS with medium length fiber of 15 mm exhibited the optimal performance, reaching about 13.5%. After natural aging treatment for a month, the tensile strength of PMFSS significantly decreased, but the change of elongation was negligible except for the one with the shortest fiber length of 5 mm, whose elongation was effectively improved. The morphological fracture features of PMFSSs were also characterized.

Additive manufacturing technologies of porous metal implants

Biomedical metal materials with good corrosion resistance and mechanical properties are widely used in orthopedic surgery and dental implant materials,but they can easily cause stress shielding due to the significant difference in elastic modulus between the implant and human bones.The elastic modulus of porous metals is lower than that of dense metals.Therefore,it is possible to adjust the pore parameters to make the elastic modulus of porous metals match or be comparable with that of the bone tissue.At the same time,the open porous metals with pores connected to each other could provide the structural condition for bone ingrowth,which is helpful in strengthening the biological combination of bone tissue with the implants.Therefore,the preparation technologies of porous metal implants and related research have been drawing more and more attention due to the excellent features of porous metals.Selective laser melting(SLM)and electron beam melting technology(EBM)are important research fields of additive manufacturing.They have the advantages of directly forming arbitrarily complex shaped metal parts which are suitable for the preparation of porous metal implants with complex shape and fine structure.As new manufacturing technologies,the applications of SLM and EBM for porous metal implants have just begun.This paper aims to understand the technology status of SLM and EBM,the research progress of porous metal implants preparation by using SLM and EBM,and the biological compatibility of the materials,individual design and manufacturing requirements.The existing problems and future research directions for porous metal implants prepared by SLM and EBM methods are discussed in the last paragraph.

Injection molding of micro-porous titanium alloy with space holder technique

The powder space holder （PSH） and powder injection molding （PIM） methods have an industrial competitive advantage because they are capable of the net-shape production of micro-sized porous parts. In this study, micro-porous Ti6Al4V alloy （Ti64） parts were produced by the PSH-PIM process. Ti64 alloy powder and spherical polymethylrnethacrylate （PMMA） particles were used as a space holder material. After molding, binder debinding was performed by thermal method under inert gas. Debinded samples were sintered at 1250℃ for 60min in a vacuum （10-4 Pa）. Metallographic studies were conducted to determine densification and the corresponding microstructural changes. The surface of sintered samples was examined by SEM. The compressive stress and elastic modulus of the rificro-porous Ti64 samples were determined. The effects of fraction of PMMA on the properties of sintered micro-porous Ti64 alloy samples were investigated. It was shown that the fraction of PMMA could be controlled to affect the properties of the Ti alloy.

Porous bulk metallic glass fabricated by powder hot pressing

A synthesis method for the production of porous bulk metallic glass (BMG) was introduced. This method utilizes the su- perplastic forming ability of amorphous powder in the supercooled liquid (SCL) state and intenerating salt mixture as a placeholder to produce BMG foam by using a hot die pressing method. Scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and dif- ferential scanning calorimetry (DSC) were employed to characterize the morphologies of foaming structure, the crystallization and the percentage of crystallization of the as-produced porous BMG. The results suggested that the formation of porous structure by su- perplastic forming process is feasible. Good bonding effect was observed between amorphous powder particles. Less than 6.5% of crystalline phases were formed during hot pressing, and less than 5.5% of residual salt was enclosed in the foam. To remove any re- sidual salt particles, salt preforms with three-dimensional network and good connectivity is necessary.

Evolution of Pore Size Distribution and Mean Pore Size in Lotus-type Porous Magnesium Fabricated with Gasar Process

The effect of gas pressures on the mean pore size, the porosity and the pore size distribution of lotus-type porous magnesium fabricated with Gasar process were investigated. The theoretical analysis and the experimental results all indicate that there exists an optimal ratio of the partial pressures of hydrogen PH2 to argon PAr for producing lotus-type structures with narrower pore size distribution and smaller pore size. The effect of solidification mode on the pore size distribution and pore size was also discussed.

Mechanochemical redox-based synthesis of highly porous CoxMn1-xOy catalysts for total oxidation

A mechanochemical redox reaction between KMnO4 and CoCl2 was developed to obtain a CoxMn1-xOy catalyst with a specific surface area of 479 m^2 g^-1,which was higher than that obtained using a co-precipitation(CP)method(34 m2 g^-1),sol-gel(SG)method(72 m^2 g^-1),or solution redox process(131 m^2 g^-1).During catalytic combustion,this CoxMn1-xOy catalyst exhibited better activity(T100 for propylene=~200℃)than the control catalysts obtained using the SG(325℃)or CP(450℃)methods.The mechanical action,mainly in the form of kinetic energy and frictional heating,may generate a high degree of interstitial porosity,while the redox reaction could contribute to good dispersion of cobalt and manganese species.Moreover,the as-prepared CoxMn1-xOy catalyst worked well in the presence of water vapor(H2O 4.2%,>60 h)or SO2(100 ppm)and at high temperature(400℃,>60 h).The structure MnO2·(CoOOH)2.93 was suggested for the current CoxMn1-xOy catalyst.This catalyst could be extended to the total oxidation of other typical hydrocarbons(T90=150°C for ethanol,T90=225°C for acetone,T90=250℃for toluene,T90=120℃for CO,and T90=540℃for CH4).Scale-up of the synthesis of CoxMn1-xOy catalyst(1 kg)can be achieved via ball milling,which may provide a potential strategy for real world catalysis.