Engineers at the University of Warwick have found that exposing mixtures of polymer particles and various materials to immediate freeze-drying can create an armored foam that could be used for applications like low power gas sensors at room temperature.
Background/History: Freeze-drying has been used to create foams before with rubber experiments in the 1940s. Before, to make strong and stable foam structures a straight-forward method is foaming or expanding process - introduce small discontinuities into a soft polymer then reinforce the cellular structure by polymerization or cooling.
The team at the University of Warwick make polymer foams by "ice-templating" and make building blocks from a special mixture of small particles in water. By changing parameters like nano-particle/polymer latex ratios and concentrations, it is possible to create certain pore structure. This new process allow the creation of foam based nano-composite materials that can operate at room temperature
Reference:
University of Warwick. "Icy Exposure Creates Armored Polymer High-Tech Foams."
Background/History: Freeze-drying has been used to create foams before with rubber experiments in the 1940s. Before, to make strong and stable foam structures a straight-forward method is foaming or expanding process - introduce small discontinuities into a soft polymer then reinforce the cellular structure by polymerization or cooling.
The team at the University of Warwick make polymer foams by "ice-templating" and make building blocks from a special mixture of small particles in water. By changing parameters like nano-particle/polymer latex ratios and concentrations, it is possible to create certain pore structure. This new process allow the creation of foam based nano-composite materials that can operate at room temperature
Reference:
University of Warwick. "Icy Exposure Creates Armored Polymer High-Tech Foams."
ScienceDaily 19 August 2009. 19 August 2009 .
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