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Sixth generation (6G) wireless networks operating in terahertz frequency region are significant solutions to the increasing number of telecommunication devices and the demand for faster data transmission. However, few dielectric materials exhibiting an ultralow relative dielectric constant (εr), loss tangent (tanδ), and high mechanical strength are found suited for 6G telecommunication. In this study, we developed lightweight ceramic foams by directly sintering glass hollow spheres. The effects of sintering temperatures on their mechanical performance, and terahertz optical and dielectric properties were systematically investigated. The final compositions of ceramic foams contain glass, cristobalite, quartz, and wollastonite. The crystalline content increases with increasing sintering temperature. The ceramic foams sintered at low temperatures of 700–850°C exhibit a high porosity ranging from 74.6% to 87.3%, ultralow εr ranging from 1.41 to 1.83, and tanδ of ∼0.011 at 0.5 THz, as well as high compressive strength ranging from 10.1 to 27.4 MPa, which could be promising materials for 6G telecommunication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hierarchical cellular architectures hold great potential in a vast range of applications due to their superior mechanical properties and multifunctionality. In the present work, hierarchical structures composed of porous struts patterned in the form of quadrangular and triangular honeycombs were fabricated via direct foam writing (DFW) using colloidal particle‐stabilized Al2O3‐MgO‐SiO2 foams as the ink. Hydration process of MgO and subsequent formation of colloidal Mg(OH)2 network endowed the foam ink with viscoelasticity and high storage modulus. The resulting honeycombs with ultrahigh overall porosity (95.3%) and robust compressive strength (2.5 MPa) can be readily fabricated by DFW. The current work exhibits a significant step toward the scalable production of cellular ceramics with hierarchical architecture for various applications, including tissue scaffolds, catalyst supports, thermal insulation, and lightweight structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ceramic foams with significant porosity and robust mechanical properties have received extensive attentions. However, it is still difficult to achieve excellent compressive strength at high porosity levels. In this work, a gelation of foamed boehmite sol method is proposed to settle this issue. The technological parameters during preparation process are systematically investigated. As‐prepared alumina ceramic foams possess unprecedentedly high compressive strength of 34.1‐89.1 MPa at high porosity levels of 66.0%‐87.2%, which is attributed to the present of hierarchical pore structure, small grain size and pore size. This work demonstrates a facile and novel method for the fabrication of high‐performance alumina ceramic foams toward practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ceramic foams with extensive interconnected pores have great application potential in high‐temperature particulate matter (PM) capture. Considering that there are still challenges to synthesize ceramic foams with efficient filtration, a novel hierarchical‐structured alumina foam with three‐dimensional (3D) reticular architecture has been fabricated via combining chemical grafting pore‐forming agent and polyurethane (PU) foaming technology. Carbon black is grafted with carbamate functional groups in order to enable a better dispersion in highly viscous PU. Submicrometer and micrometer‐sized pores on the cell walls are observed in hierarchical‐structured ceramic foams. The resulting alumina foam exhibits 95.2% removal efficiency for PM particles and low pressure drop of only 50 Pa when grafted carbon black content is 3 wt%. This filtration performance is much higher than that of existing ceramic materials. These features, combined with our experimental design strategy, provide a new insight to design high‐temperature PM filtration materials with durable high performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ultralight ceramic foam materials with high porosity play an important role in increasingly hi‐tech areas due to the combinative merit of ceramic material and highly porous structure. So far, it remains challenging to fabricate alumina ceramic foams with extremely high porosity and high specific surface area that are comparable to aerogel materials by employing a low cost, eco‐friendly and convenient approach. For the first time, we propose the preparation of aerogel‐like ceramic foams with nanoscale cell wall and unprecedentedly high porosity using boehmite sol as both ceramic source and bubble interface stabilizer, based on sol nanoparticles stabilized foams using sodium lauryl sulfate (SDS) as modifier. The obtained ultra‐stable sol foams allow for the achievement of bulk foams with ultrathin cell wall with thickness in the range of 30‐90 nm, super‐high porosity up to 99%, and large specific surface area of 280 m2/g, which is attributed to the well‐organized assembly of nanoparticles at the liquid/air interfaces. This novel foam material demonstrates excellent adsorption ability for polar volatile organic gases (VOCs) due to its extremely high porosity and large specific surface area. Ultralgiht cellular ceramic foams composed of uniformly assembled nanoparticles with nanoscale cell wall. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A novel method for fabrication of highly porous barium strontium titanate (BST) ceramic foams based on particle‐stabilized foaming method was developed for the first time, in which propyl gallate (PG) was employed as BST particle modifier. The results showed that the stability of wet BST foams closely depends on the pH value and PG concentration, which could be explained by the adsorption behavior of PG on BST particle surface. BST ceramic foams with dense, uniform, and closed pore and defect‐free wall were obtained. The pore size and porosity can be well controlled by adjusting solid loading and sintering temperature. It was revealed that not only sintering temperature but also solid loading significantly influenced the growth of BST grain. The BST ceramic foams exhibited high porosity in the range of 81%‐95%, low dielectric constant in the range of 47‐150, and low dielectric loss below 0.0025. The BST ceramic foams with higher porosity presented a tendency of lower dielectric constant and the fitting results indicated that the natural logarithm of dielectric constant was linear correlated with porosity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The weak compressive strength of dried ceramic foams is a disadvantage of fabricating ultralight ceramic foams, especially for the ceramic foams with porosity exceeding 95%. In this study, dried alumina foams were enhanced by agar and PVA-freezing-thawing using sodium dodecyl sulfate as surfactant. It is found that the two additives have no negative influence on adsorption of sodium dodecyl sulfate on alumina particles as well as the hydrophobic character of alumina particles. Stable alumina particle-stabilized foams were prepared with less than 0.5 wt% agar and 1.0 wt% PVA. High additive concentration above the critical values weakens stability of wet foams, which is probably due to the aggregate of alumina particles caused by long-chain molecules connecting. The compressive strength of dried alumina foams has a significant improvement with the employment of agar and PVA-freezing-thawing. The dried foams prepared with 1wt% PVA assisted by freezing-thawing has porosity of 97.1% and compressive strength of 0.16 MPa, which could maintain integrity of dried foams without destruction in the fabricating process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]