Fabrication of porous ceramics with double-pore structure by stepwise freeze casting using water/diphenyl methane emulsion

Abstract Porous alumina with double-pore structure was fabricated by stepwise freeze casting using water/diphenyl methane (DPM) emulsion as freezing medium. The effects of DPM content in the alumina slurry on the pore structure, mechanical properties, and specific surface area of porous ceramics were investigated. The porosity of porous ceramics was not significantly affected by DPM content in the alumina slurry due to their same solid contents. The lamellar pore size decreased, and the spherical pore size increased in porous alumina with increasing DPM content in the slurry. Closed spherical pores were formed in lamellar pore walls when the DPM content was 10 vol%. The compressive strength slightly increased, and the specific surface area decreased in the samples with DPM compared with those in porous ceramics with pure water as freezing medium. The specific surface area of porous alumina was 0.566 m 2 /g, and the interception rate for titan yellow was 44.16% when the DPM content reached 25 vol% because the large spherical pore was connected to the outside. Hence, the fabricated porous alumina with DPM exhibited potential as adsorption and filtration materials.