Speaker
Description
Open-cell metallic foams offer a combination of high permeability and a large accessible surface area, as well as good thermal and electrical conductivity. This makes them a versatile substrate for functional porous-media devices. Their three-dimensional strut network enables efficient heat and mass transport at low pressure drop. However, practical performance depends heavily on how surface functionality is introduced without compromising pore accessibility.
This contribution discusses the use of coated metallic foams as general materials and design concept for engineered porous media. We highlight the main challenges associated with coating open-cell foams, such as generating a uniform, conformal layer across the three-dimensional strut network and achieving sufficient adhesion and long-term stability during operation. Another challenge is maintaining the foam’s effective porosity to ensure that its transport benefits are not lost.
To illustrate these ideas, we refer to two ongoing thematics in our group that employ coated foams in different operating regimes. The first theme focuses on electrochemically functionalised foam electrodes for hydrogen electrolysis, demonstrating how conductive porous architectures can be transformed into highly active interfaces without sacrificing favourable mass transport. The second thematic examines photoactive coatings on foams for use in flow-through water treatment, showing how light-responsive surface functionality can be integrated into a permeable backbone. Together, these examples offer a practical basis for discussing transferable coating strategies across electrochemical and photocatalytic porous media technologies.
Overall, coated metallic foams emerge as a robust, porous platform for technologies relevant to energy and the environment, as well as being a useful case study of how the interplay between microstructural design, transport and surface reactivity determines the macroscopic performance of porous materials.
| Country | Germany |
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