Emerging Trends in Porogens toward Material Fabrication: Recent Progresses and Challenges

Abstract

Fabrication of tailor-made materials requires meticulous planning, use of technical equipments, major components and suitable additives that influence the end application. Most of the processes of separation/transport/adsorption have environmental applications that demands a material to be with measurable porous nature, stability (mechanical, thermal) and morphology. Researchers say that a vital role is played by porogens in this regard. Porogens (i.e., synthetic, natural, mixed) and their qualitative and quantitative influence on the substrate material (polymers (bio, synthetic), ceramic, metals, etc.) and their fabrication processes are summarized. In most cases, porogens critically influence the morphology, performance, surface and cross-section, which are directly linked to material efficiency, stability, reusability potential and its applications. However, currently there are no review articles exclusively focused on the porogen pores’ role in material fabrication in general. Accordingly, this article comprises a review of the literature on various types of porogens, their efficiency in different host materials (organic, inorganic, etc.), pore size distribution (macro, micro and nano), their advantages and limitations, to a certain extent, and their critical applications. These include separation, transport of pollutants, stability improvement and much more. The progress made and the remaining challenges in porogens’ role in the material fabrication process need to be summarized for researcher’s attention.

Bio-Based Polymeric Membranes: Development and Environmental Applications

“…Tan et al, 2022 prepared a porous fibrous membrane of bacterial cellulose/La(OH) 3 for phosphate removal. On the other hand, the porous characteristics are directly related to the mechanical and thermal properties of the membrane [135]. Depending on the membrane preparation method, pore modifications occur.…”

“…Characterization of the membrane microstructure (such as pore size distribution and pore connectivity between pore and surface reactivity) is essential for specific membrane performance and parallel for specific applications [ 135 ]. Several pore-forming agents have been used to manipulate the pore fabrication of the membrane, which can be used through three methods: adding a pore former during the polymerization, using thermally unstable components in a polymer blend, and using selective decomposition of thermally unstable block copolymer [ 12 ].…”

“…Several pore-forming agents have been used to manipulate the pore fabrication of the membrane, which can be used through three methods: adding a pore former during the polymerization, using thermally unstable components in a polymer blend, and using selective decomposition of thermally unstable block copolymer [ 12 ]. The porous materials such as catalysts, adsorbents, oxides, carbons, zeolites, organic polymers, and soils are included in the membrane preparation based on the properties conferred to the membrane such as high surface area, relatively low stiffness, shape selectivity, and permeability [ 135 ].…”

“…On the other hand, the porous characteristics are directly related to the mechanical and thermal properties of the membrane [ 135 ]. Depending on the membrane preparation method, pore modifications occur.…”

Millisecond flash lamp curing for porosity generation in thin films

“…The ability to create smaller and smaller holes and control their arrangement has resulted in the development of a variety of new materials that are now utilized in everyday or industrial applications such as catalysis 3 , 4 , separation science 5 , energy storage 6 , microelectronics 7 , 8 , and biomedical engineering 9 , 10 . There is always a trade-off between porosity and the final material's physical properties in every application 11 . Therefore, it is necessary to optimize the range of porosity, pore morphology, and pore size distribution for particular applications.…”