Fabricating porous monolithic ceramic materials via phase separations in solutions of poly(Vinyl alcohol) and sol nanoparticles

Porous monolithic ceramic materials have been fabricated based on poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and sol nanoparticles by a series of procedures, including thermally impacted and non-solvent induced phase separations, solvent exchange, ambient pressure drying, and calcination. The morphology and properties of the porous ceramic materials could be tailored by tuning cooling temperatures, PVA concentrations, ratios of sol nanoparticles to PVA, and sizes of sol nanoparticles. These parameters exert important influence on the phase separation process, and eventually affect the morphology and properties of porous ceramic materials. For monolithic SiO 2 materials, a low density of 0.19 g/cm 3 , a high porosity of 92%, and a large specific surface area of 30 m 2 /g were achieved, exhibiting potential applications in adsorption, catalysis, and filtration applications fields. Moreover, as a general and facile method, it could also be extended to fabricate porous monolithic TiO 2 , ZrO 2 and other oxide ceramic materials. Porous monolithic ceramic materials, including SiO 2 , TiO 2 , and ZrO 2 , have been fabricated by thermally impacted and non-solvent induced phase separations in solutions of poly(vinyl alcohol) and sol nanoparticles.