Ordered
mesoporous silica materials gain high interest because
of their potential applications in catalysis, selective adsorption,
separation, and controlled drug release. Due to their morphological
characteristics, mainly the tunable, ordered nanometric pores, they
can be utilized as supporting hosts for confined chemical reactions.
Applications of these materials, however, are limited by structural
design. Here, we present a new approach for the 3D printing of complex
geometry silica objects with an ordered mesoporous structure by stereolithography.
The process uses photocurable liquid compositions that contain a structure-directing
agent, silica precursors, and elastomer-forming monomers that, after
printing and calcination, form porous silica monoliths. The objects
have extremely high surface area, 1900 m
2
/g, and very low
density and are thermally and chemically stable. This work enables
the formation of ordered porous objects having complex geometries
that can be utilized in applications in both the industry and academia,
overcoming the structural limitations associated with traditional
processing methods.
A novel method for fabricating transparent porous γ‐alumina 3D structures by printing at high resolution is presented. The process is based on combining digital light processing 3D printing (DLP) and sol–gel reactions, all performed in transparent solutions, resulting in ceramic monolithic porous structures. The aqueous printing solution contains mainly aluminum chloride, propylene oxide (PO), ethanol, and acrylic acid (AA). The printed polymerized structures are aged, followed by supercritical drying (SCD), and sintered at high temperatures. During aging and sintering, the printed objects shrink, thus enabling a final printing resolution far beyond the nominal value of the used printer. The resulting structures are crystalline γ‐Al2O3, with a very high surface area, above 1800 m2 g−1, and optical transmission above 80% at 600 nm. In addition, SCD enables precise control of pores’ dimensions and total surface area, which are essential for applications including thermal insulation and catalyst support and for obtaining heat‐resistant transparent optical devices.
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