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Recently, research on the preparation of porous Al-containing intermetallic compounds using combustion synthesis (CS) reaction in combination with a space holder process has been gradually increased, in order to improve the porosity and obtain the pore structures with controllable pore morphology and pore size. The reaction mechanism for the M–Al (M = Ti, Ni, Fe, Nb, and Cu) system is closely related to the state of aluminum (e.g., solid or liquid phase) and is greatly affected by processing parameters such as particle size, Al content, heating rate, compacting pressure, sintering temperature, content, and the type of pore-forming agents. Once the sintering temperature causes the appearance of one liquid phase in the reaction system, the remaining solid reactant quickly dissolves into the molten one to improve the surface contact and then generate considerable heat to complete the combustion reaction. Interestingly, the actual temperature change of the sample during the sintering process is accurately detected, and the transparent observation of the reaction state is also realized, which provides a new vision for further exploration of the reaction mechanism of other compounds.

Due to the high exothermic characteristic of NiAl during the reaction synthesis process from Ni–Al elemental powders, the NiAl intermetallic melts frequently, and the specimens are difficult to maintain their original shape, which leads to the inhomogeneity of the pore size and morphology. To tackle this problem, porous NiAl intermetallic monolith with controllable shape and pore structure was prepared through thermal explosion (TE) using NaCl as space holder. The TE behavior was recorded, and the effect of the volume fraction of NaCl on the phase composition, macroscopic feature, pore morphology and open porosity were investigated. The results showed that NiAl was the main phase in the products, and the specimen was free from cracking or deforming when NaCl content reached 30 vol%. The interconnected channel and pore windows were formed, and the open porosity was improved greatly to 63% by adding 50 vol% NaCl. The leachable space holder route provides a simple way to control the shape, pore structure and open porosity of the synthesized porous NiAl intermetallic. The use of NaCl as space holder reduced the combustion temperature of NiAl porous intermetallic compounds and kept the macroscopic shape intact.

The formation mechanism of porous TiAl3 intermetallics from Ti-75 at.% Al powder compact was explored through a continuous sintering process. The exothermic behavior, temperature changes and open porosity were investigated by ranging the sintering temperature from 600°C to 700°C. Results show that a thermal explosion (TE) occurs once the sample temperature reaches to 675°C, upon which it rapidly climbs to 1148°C within 10 s. Visual observation was achieved and revealed the exothermic state at every step, showing the overall heating and instantaneous reaction of TE. The open porosity increased significantly from 24.8% to 58.7% by increasing the sintering temperature from 670°C to 675°C. The reaction mechanism of porous TiAl3 materials in the Ti-75 at.% Al system indicates that sintering at 600°C, 650°C, and 670°C was controlled by atomic diffusion, diffusion-induced TE, and liquid-induced TE reaction, respectively. The diffusion reaction activation energy was 161.5 kJ mol−1 for diffusion-controlled growth of the TiAl3 reaction layer.

Porous TiAl3 intermetallics were synthesized from Ti-75 at.% Al elemental powder mixtures using an energy-saving and rapid reactive method of thermal explosion (TE). The results demonstrated that the actual temperature of the compact climbed rapidly from 673 °C to 1036 °C within 24 s, indicating that an obvious TE reaction occurred during sintering process. The video graphs suggested that the TE in Ti–Al system behaved instant occurrence and overall heating whether from axial or radial direction. The silver wires and NaCl particles that pressed on the surface of the sample disappeared due to the heavy heat released during TE reaction. Only pure TiAl3 phases were synthesized in TE products and the open porosity of 55.4% was easy to obtain. After high-temperature treatment at 1000 °C, large amounts of sintering-neck formed and then improved the compressive strength of porous TiAl3 materials. Moreover, the mass gain curve of porous TiAl3 intermetallics oxidized at 650 °C for 120 h exhibited the parabolic oxidation rate law. XPS analysis confirmed that the strong O 1s peak was 531.4 eV which was the typical binding energy of Al2O3. Therefore, the excellent oxidation resistance of porous TiAl3 foams would be considered as good candidate materials for prolonging the service life at high temperatures. Keywords: Porous materials, Rapid synthesis, TiAl3 intermetallics, Thermal explosion, Oxidation resistance

Porous Ni3Al, NiAl, and NiAl3 intermetallics have been synthesized through simple and rapid process of thermal explosion (TE) from 75 at.% Ni/25 at.% Al, 50 at.% Ni/50 at.% Al and 25 at.% N...

Porous TiAl3 intermetallics were synthesized by the thermal explosion (TE) reaction from TiH2–75 at.% Al elemental powders combining with carbamide as the space holder. The results showed that the space holder particles were removed completely by dissolving in water before sintering and the violent exothermic reaction occurred from the temperature of 672–1193 °C within a few seconds. After TE, TiAl3 was the dominant phase in sintered products and the open porosity of 60.8% was obtained without space holder, while the porosity considerably increased to 81.4% with the addition of 60 vol% carbamide particles. The pore-forming mechanism can be concluded as follows: the sphere large pores replicated from carbamide particles and the small pores generated by the TE reaction. Moreover, porous TiAl3 intermetallics possess the excellent oxidation resistance at 650 °C in air, which enabled them good candidate materials for improving the service life and the accuracy of filtration under special conditions.

A high-porosity CuAl-based intermetallic compound with composition Cu-50 at.% Al has been successfully prepared by thermal explosion (TE) using NaCl as space holder. The results showed that the NaCl particles were completely removed from the green compact by water leaching. The temperature of the specimen during the TE and the evolution of the porous microstructure were investigated. The TE was ignited at 560°C, and the specimen temperature increased to 775°C in 3 s, resulting in formation of intermetallic CuAl and CuAl2 phases in the final product. A porous CuAl-based intermetallic compound with up to 62 vol.% open porosity was produced when adding 60 vol.% NaCl. The compound exhibited a bimodal pore size structure, including large pores (200 μm to 300 μm) that replicated the NaCl particles and small pores (5 μm to 10 μm) interspersed in the pore walls. Moreover, the large pores were interconnected by channels and formed an open CuAl-based intermetallic cellular structure, having great potential for use in heat exchange and filtration applications.

Porous FeAl-based intermetallics were fabricated by thermal explosion (TE) from Fe and Al powders. The effects of sintering temperature on phase constitution, pore structure and oxidation resistance of porous Fe-Al intermetallics were systematically investigated. Porous Fe-Al materials with high open porosity (65%) are synthesized via a low-energy consumption method of TE at a temperature of 636 °C and FeAl intermetallic is evolved as dominant phase in sintered materials at 1000 °C. The porous materials are composed of interconnected skeleton, large pores among skeleton and small pores in the interior of skeleton. The interstitial pores in green powder compacts are the important source of large pores of porous Fe-Al intermetallics, and the in-situ pores from the melting and flowing of aluminum powders are also significant to the formation of large pores. Small pores are from the precipitation of Fe-Al intermetallics particles. In addition, the porous specimens exhibit high resistance to oxidation at 650 °C in air.

Open-cell Fe-Al intermetallic foams were successfully prepared by a simple and energy-saving thermal explosion (TE) process. The effects of the Fe/Al molar ratio (Fe-(40–50) at. pct Al) and thermal ...

High porosity of porous TiAl3 intermetallics were prepared from Ti-75Al at.% elemental powders by NaCl as temporary space holder, combining with multilayer stacking technology and thermal explosion reaction. Results showed that space holder particles in green compact were completely removed before sintering and only single TiAl3 phases were synthesized in sintered product. The porosity (>70%) can be easily obtained when adding 0, 30 or 50 vol.% NaCl in designed layers. SEM image indicated that the distribution of small pores (

The high porosity of FeAl/Al2O3 composites was successfully prepared via a low-energy consumption method of thermal explosion (TE) in vacuum from reactant mixtures of Fe, Al and Fe2O3. The temperat ...

The high porosity Fe-Al intermetallic foams have been successfully prepared by a simple and energy-saving process of thermal explosion (TE) approach from Fe-40 at.% Al elemental powders. The temperature profile, pore structure, phase composition and element distribution of Fe-Al foam were investigated. Due to the exothermic reaction, the temperature of sample increased rapidly from 637 °C to 981 °C in 9 s interval, which means that an obvious TE appears in the sintering process. The volume expansion of 88% was observed in heated sample, and the Fe-Al foam exhibited an interconnected pore structure with a high open porosity of 61%. XRD patterns showed that TE product contains Fe 2 Al 5 and Fe while FeAl was evolved as dominant phase in final sintered materials. EDS results showed that Fe and Al distributed evenly in the final products.

Porous TiAl 3 intermetallics were synthesized by thermal explosion (TE) reaction with NaCl as space holder material, from Ti-75Al at.% elemental powders. Results showed that the actual temperature of specimen climbed rapidly from 667 °C to 1106 °C. As a consequence, porous TiAl 3 intermetallics with high open porosity (>80%) can be easily achieved when adding NaCl particles above 50 vol%. XRD patterns showed that only single-phase TiAl 3 compound was synthesized via TE. Hierarchical porous TiAl 3 materials displayed three pore structures, including large pores replicating from original NaCl particles, small pores among the skeletons, and tiny pores precipitated from particle skeletons. Moreover, porous TiAl 3 intermetallics exhibited a uniform pore size distribution and formed an open-cellular structures allowing for the liquid-gas separation and filtration applications.

TiAl-based porous materials were synthesized by a novel process of thermal explosion (TE) reaction. The effects of heating rate on the expansion behavior of powder assemblies, phase compositions, and pore structures were investigated. Results showed that the actual temperature of specimen increased rapidly from 655 to 661°C (furnace temperature) to 1018–1136°C (combustion temperature) in a short time interval of 25–55 s, indicating that an obvious TE reaction occurred at different heating rates (1, 2, 5, and 10°C min−1). TE reaction in Ti/Al powder assemblies resulted in the formation of open-celled TiAl-based intermetallics. When the heating rate was set at 5°C min−1, the maximum open porosity of 59% was obtained in Ti-Al bodies, which experienced the highest combustion temperature (1136°C) and underwent maximum volume expansion (48%). The pore size distribution was uniform and pores were interconnected in TE products.

High porosity TiAl-based intermetallics were prepared through thermal explosion (TE) from Ti–50Al at.% powders with NaCl as soluble template. The results showed that the space holder particles of NaCl were removed completely in green compacts, and porous Ti–Al materials were synthesized via a low-energy consumption method of TE at a temperature of 600 °C. TiAl was evolved as dominant phase in sintered materials at 1100 °C. With adding 80 vol.% NaCl to Ti–50Al at.% powders, the open porosity was significantly elevated up to 84%. Moreover, the porous materials exhibited a bimodal pore size distribution: large pores (200–500 μm) replicating NaCl particles and small pores (

Porous TiAl3 intermetallcis are of great interest due to its excellent properties and widely applied in filtering apparatus, separation material and catalyst carrier. In this study, interconnected pore-structures have been synthesized by diffusion or thermal explosion (TE) reaction sintering with different heating rates. The thermal characteristics such as temperature-time curves, exothermic change and visual images indicate that the sample experienced a significant TE reaction at higher heating rates. Results shown that the sample was ignited at 672 °C and then rapidly increased to combustion temperature of 1169, 1110 and 933 °C in tens of seconds with the heating rate of 15, 10 and 5 °C∙min−1 respectively. Meanwhile, TE represented the uniformity of volume combustion, instantaneous reaction and rapid cooling to furnace temperature, the amount of heat released during TE reaction dropped from 1303 to 963 J g−1. This indicates that the entire sintering process was controlled by TE and the pre-diffusion reaction before the melting temperature of Al atom, which would affect the subsequent combustion reaction. Thermodynamic data explained that the reaction mechanism is mainly step-controlled diffusion reaction at a low heating rate (1 °C∙min−1), while the energy gradually accumulated and thermal explosion (TE) reaction become obvious with the increasing of heating rate (from 2 to 15 °C∙min−1).

Porous monoliths of MoO3 nanoplates were synthesized from ammonium molybdate (AHM) by freeze-casting and subsequent thermal treatment from 300 to 600 °C. Pure orthorhombic MoO3 phase was obtained at thermal treatment temperature of 400 °C and above. MoO3 monoliths thermally treated at 400 °C displayed bimodal pore structure, including large pore channels replicating the ice crystals and small pores from MoO3 sheets stacking. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images revealed that the average thicknesses of MoO3 sheet were 50 and 300 nm in porous monoliths thermally treated at 400 °C. The photocatalytic performance of MoO3 was evaluated through degradation of methylene blue (MB) under visible light radiation and MoO3 synthesized at 400 °C exhibited strong adsorption performance and best photocatalytic activity for photodegradation of MB of 99.7% under visible illumination for 60 min. MoO3 photocatalyst displayed promising cyclic performance, and the decolorization efficiency of MB solution was 98.1% after four cycles.