Ice-Templated and Freeze-Cast Ceramics

A special issue of Ceramics (ISSN 2571-6131).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2019) | Viewed by 30300

Special Issue Editor

Laboratory of Synthesis and Functionnalisation of Ceramics (LSFC, UMR3080), 84300 Cavaillon, France
Interests: ice-templating; freeze-casting; porous ceramics; composites, solidification; ceramic processing; bioinspiration; data mining; open science

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Ice-templating, also known as freeze-casting, has become, over the past 15 years, a well-established materials processing route. The underlying principles—the segregation and templating of particulate suspensions by growing crystals—are generic, resulting in a variety of ice-templated porous and dense materials. Ice-templated ceramics, whether traditional or advanced, have been particularly investigated, for an ever-broadening range of structural or functional properties.

Although many proof-of-principle studies have been reported and most of the underlying physics understood, there is still a lot to explore, in particular before ice-templated ceramics and ceramic composites may eventually find their way in applications. In particular, progress is needed in the following areas:

  • Fundamental understanding and control of the process, in particular for the control of textures and of composites microstructures: the distribution and organisation of particles (in particular anisotropic particles), the phase distribution, the development of microstructural defects in ice-templated structures.
  • Development of processing routes associated to specific functional properties, morphologies, or applications (tubes, membranes, beads, thin films, etc.).
  • Combination of ice-templating with traditional ceramic processing and scale up. Although several processing routes have been successfully combined with ice-templating (tape-casting, spray drying), many routes can still be explored. Very little effort has been paid to investigate scale-up of the current ice-templating routes, although this will be one of the keys for a successful transfer of these routes from the lab to industrial applications.
  • Assessment of functional properties, in particular in the application environment. Little attention has been paid in particular to reproducibility and reliability.

We therefore welcome submission of papers related to ice-templating in general and the points listed above in particular, for this Special Issue of Ceramics, to continue the exploration of these rich, complex, and hopefully useful phenomena. Full papers, communications, and reviews are welcome.

Dr. Sylvain Deville
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Ceramics is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Ice-templating
  • Freeze-casting
  • Porous ceramics
  • Solidification

Published Papers (7 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Editorial

Jump to: Research, Review

3 pages, 187 KiB  
Editorial
Advances in Ice-Templated and Freeze-Casted Ceramics
by Sylvain Deville
Ceramics 2019, 2(4), 551-553; https://doi.org/10.3390/ceramics2040042 - 26 Sep 2019
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2606
Abstract
Ice-templating, also known as freeze-casting, has become over the past 15 years a well-established materials processing route [...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ice-Templated and Freeze-Cast Ceramics)

Research

Jump to: Editorial, Review

14 pages, 7249 KiB  
Article
Ice-Templating for the Elaboration of Oxygen Permeation Asymmetric Tubular Membrane with Radial Oriented Porosity
by Cyril Gaudillere, Julio Garcia-Fayos, Jorge Plaza and José M. Serra
Ceramics 2019, 2(2), 246-259; https://doi.org/10.3390/ceramics2020020 - 02 Apr 2019
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3043
Abstract
An original asymmetric tubular membrane for oxygen production applications was manufactured in a two-step process. A 3 mol% Y2O3 stabilized ZrO2 (3YSZ) porous tubular support was manufactured by the freeze-casting technique, offering a hierarchical and radial-oriented porosity of about [...] Read more.
An original asymmetric tubular membrane for oxygen production applications was manufactured in a two-step process. A 3 mol% Y2O3 stabilized ZrO2 (3YSZ) porous tubular support was manufactured by the freeze-casting technique, offering a hierarchical and radial-oriented porosity of about 15 µm in width, separated by fully densified walls of about 2 µm thick, suggesting low pressure drop and boosted gas transport. The external surface of the support was successively dip-coated to get a Ce0.8Gd0.2O2−δ – 5mol%Co (CGO-Co) interlayer of 80 µm in thickness and an outer dense layer of La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3−δ (LSCF) with a thickness of 30 µm. The whole tubular membrane presents both uniform geometric characteristics and microstructure all along its length. Chemical reactivity between each layer was studied by coupling X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis and Energy Dispersive X-Ray spectroscopy (EDX) mapping at each step of the manufacturing process. Cation interdiffusion between different phases was discarded, confirming the compatibility of this tri-layer asymmetric ceramic membrane for oxygen production purposes. For the first time, a freeze-cast tubular membrane has been evaluated for oxygen permeation, exhibiting a value of 0.31 mL·min−1·cm−2 at 1000 °C under air and argon as feed and sweep gases, respectively. Finally, under the same conditions and increasing the oxygen partial pressure to get pure oxygen as feed, the oxygen permeation reached 1.07 mL·min−1·cm−2. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ice-Templated and Freeze-Cast Ceramics)
Show Figures

Figure 1

19 pages, 4538 KiB  
Article
Radial-Concentric Freeze Casting Inspired by Porcupine Fish Spines
by Frances Y. Su, Joyce R. Mok and Joanna McKittrick
Ceramics 2019, 2(1), 161-179; https://doi.org/10.3390/ceramics2010015 - 06 Mar 2019
Cited by 23 | Viewed by 5841
Abstract
Freeze casting is a technique used to manufacture porous ceramics with aligned microstructures. In conventional freeze casting, these microstructures are aligned along a single direction of freezing. However, a caveat to these ceramics has been their ensuing lack of strength and toughness due [...] Read more.
Freeze casting is a technique used to manufacture porous ceramics with aligned microstructures. In conventional freeze casting, these microstructures are aligned along a single direction of freezing. However, a caveat to these ceramics has been their ensuing lack of strength and toughness due to their high porosity, especially in the direction orthogonal to the direction of alignment. In this work, a novel freezing casting method referred to as “radial-concentric freeze casting” is presented, which takes its inspiration from the radially and concentrically aligned structure of the defensive spines of the porcupine fish. The method builds off the radial freeze casting method, in which the microstructure is aligned radially, and imposes a concentric alignment. Axial compression and Brazilian tests were performed to obtain axial compressive strengths, axial compressive moduli, and splitting tensile strengths of freeze cast samples with and without epoxy infiltration. Notably, radial-concentric freeze cast samples had the greatest improvements in axial compressive modulus and splitting tensile strength with infiltration, when compared against the changes in mechanical properties of conventional and radial freeze cast ceramics with infiltration. These results provide further evidence for the importance of structure in multiphase materials and the possibility of enhancing mechanical properties through the controlled alignment of microstructures. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ice-Templated and Freeze-Cast Ceramics)
Show Figures

Figure 1

13 pages, 5926 KiB  
Communication
Ice-Templated Geopolymer—Fe/Mn Oxide Composites Conceived as Oxygen Carriers
by Elettra Papa, Valentina Medri, Annalisa Natali Murri, Francesco Miccio and Elena Landi
Ceramics 2019, 2(1), 148-160; https://doi.org/10.3390/ceramics2010014 - 01 Mar 2019
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 2820
Abstract
Ice-templating (freeze-casting) technique was applied to a novel class of geopolymer composites containing Fe/Mn oxides, previously tested and reported in others works as synthetic oxygen carriers for chemical looping combustion (CLC), in order to obtain composite monoliths with lamellar macro-porosities by unidirectional freezing [...] Read more.
Ice-templating (freeze-casting) technique was applied to a novel class of geopolymer composites containing Fe/Mn oxides, previously tested and reported in others works as synthetic oxygen carriers for chemical looping combustion (CLC), in order to obtain composite monoliths with lamellar macro-porosities by unidirectional freezing of water-based sol-gel systems. Geopolymer-Fe/Mn oxides composites carriers were also produced as beads, suitable for fixed bed reactors, by an injection-solidification method in liquid nitrogen. After conditioning at 900 °C, the temperature needed for CLC applications, the composite beads and monoliths possess similar total porosity % and total pore volume, being ≈65% and 570 mm3 g−1, respectively, as well as a specific surface area of around 2.4–2.9 m2/g. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ice-Templated and Freeze-Cast Ceramics)
Show Figures

Figure 1

14 pages, 9086 KiB  
Article
Near-Zero Thermal Expansion in Freeze-Cast Composite Materials
by Sarah N. Ellis, Carl P. Romao and Mary Anne White
Ceramics 2019, 2(1), 112-125; https://doi.org/10.3390/ceramics2010011 - 13 Feb 2019
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 4459
Abstract
Most materials expand when heated, which can lead to thermal stress and even failure. Whereas thermomiotic materials exhibit negative thermal expansion, the creation of materials with near-zero thermal expansion presents an ongoing challenge due to the need to optimize thermal and mechanical properties [...] Read more.
Most materials expand when heated, which can lead to thermal stress and even failure. Whereas thermomiotic materials exhibit negative thermal expansion, the creation of materials with near-zero thermal expansion presents an ongoing challenge due to the need to optimize thermal and mechanical properties simultaneously. The present work describes the preparation and properties of polymer–ceramic composites with low thermal expansion. Ceramic scaffolds, prepared by freeze-casting of low-thermal-expansion Al2W3O12, were impregnated with poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA). The resulting composites can have a coefficient of thermal expansion as low as 2 × 10−6 K−1, and hardness values of 4.0 ± 0.3 HV/5 (39 ± 3 MPa) and 16 ± 3 HV/5 (160 ± 30 MPa) parallel and perpendicular to the ice growth, respectively. The higher hardness perpendicular to the ice growth direction indicates that the PMMA is acting to improve the mechanical properties of the composite. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ice-Templated and Freeze-Cast Ceramics)
Show Figures

Graphical abstract

11 pages, 3268 KiB  
Article
Fabricating MOF/Polymer Composites via Freeze Casting for Water Remediation
by Coral Rogers, Daniel Pun, Qingshan Fu and Haifei Zhang
Ceramics 2018, 1(2), 353-363; https://doi.org/10.3390/ceramics1020028 - 28 Nov 2018
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3664
Abstract
Various porous materials have been used as adsorbents for water remediation. Among them, metal-organic framework (MOF) particles have been explored intensively, due to their size-controlled micropores and high surface areas. MOF nanoparticles are often used because of high external surface area and easy [...] Read more.
Various porous materials have been used as adsorbents for water remediation. Among them, metal-organic framework (MOF) particles have been explored intensively, due to their size-controlled micropores and high surface areas. MOF nanoparticles are often used because of high external surface area and easy access to the micropores. However, recovering MOF nanoparticles, usually by filtration or centrifugation, is time-consuming and is difficult to scale up. We report here the preparation of porous MOF/polymer monoliths by freeze casting for water remediation. Chitosan and UiO-66 (Universitetet i Oslo) nanoparticles (including different surface functional groups) are used to prepare such monoliths. In order to improve the mechanical stability and the tendency of disintegrating in water, the freeze-dried UiO-66/chitosan monoliths are further treated by heating, washing with aqueous NaOH solution, or chemical crosslinking with glutaraldehyde. All these treated monoliths are used for adsorption of a herbicide methylchlorophenoxypropionic acid (MCPP) from aqueous solution. Particularly, the crosslinked chitosan/UiO-66 monolith achieves an adsorption capacity of 47.67 mg g−1, with a 60 ppm MCPP solution. It is superior to that presented by the sole UiO-66 nanoparticles, exhibiting over a 30% increase in the adsorption capacity. The monoliths can be easily removed using tweezers, providing facile recyclability, which is advantageous for upscaling. The recycled monolith upheld approximately 75% of the adsorption capacity compared to the original monolith after three reuse cycles. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ice-Templated and Freeze-Cast Ceramics)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Review

Jump to: Editorial, Research

27 pages, 13395 KiB  
Review
External Field Assisted Freeze Casting
by Pooya Niksiar, Frances Y. Su, Michael B. Frank, Taylor A. Ogden, Steven E. Naleway, Marc A. Meyers, Joanna McKittrick and Michael M. Porter
Ceramics 2019, 2(1), 208-234; https://doi.org/10.3390/ceramics2010018 - 24 Mar 2019
Cited by 33 | Viewed by 6770
Abstract
Freeze casting under external fields (magnetic, electric, or acoustic) produces porous materials having local, regional, and global microstructural order in specific directions. In freeze casting, porosity is typically formed by the directional solidification of a liquid colloidal suspension. Adding external fields to the [...] Read more.
Freeze casting under external fields (magnetic, electric, or acoustic) produces porous materials having local, regional, and global microstructural order in specific directions. In freeze casting, porosity is typically formed by the directional solidification of a liquid colloidal suspension. Adding external fields to the process allows for structured nucleation of ice and manipulation of particles during solidification. External control over the distribution of particles is governed by a competition of forces between constitutional supercooling and electromagnetism or acoustic radiation. Here, we review studies that apply external fields to create porous ceramics with different microstructural patterns, gradients, and anisotropic alignments. The resulting materials possess distinct gradient, core–shell, ring, helical, or long-range alignment and enhanced anisotropic mechanical properties. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ice-Templated and Freeze-Cast Ceramics)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop