Characterisation of porous titania yttrium oxide compounds by mercury intrusion porosimetry and X-ray refractometry

Aiming at ceramic materials of low thermal radiation emittance titania yttrium oxide ceramics have been prepared by sintering in air at 1,100 and 1,400 °C, respectively, and characterised. Due to its high infrared refractive index, average pore sizes up to 1 μm for optimal Mie scattering cross sections and over 35% porosity the material is a promising candidate for elevated temperature insulations. The essentially in large pore growth is achieved by graphitic nano and micro particle additives. The microstructure parameters of porosity, specific surface area, median and average pore sizes are determined by mercury intrusion porosimetry. Beyond this classical technique supplementary measurements by X-ray absorption and X-ray refractometry reveal considerably larger average pore sizes due to closed pores not accessible for mercury. An additional advantage of the X-ray techniques is their non-destructive application, which allows other treatments afterwards. The combined application of both methods provides additional information and reliability in case of complex ceramic microstructures and may serve for improved developments of porous ceramics with optimised thermal scattering for energy savings in high temperature applications.