Department Microstructure and Residual Stress Analysis

Freeze casting

The freeze casting process is based on the directional solidification of solutions or particle slurries. It is a two-step process, whereby a solution or slurry is directionally solidified and the solid solvent phase is removed by sublimation, in a freeze drying (lyophilization) process, or by solvent exchange. Fundamental to the freeze casting process are ice crystal growth phenomena, because predominantly the ice phase shapes the architecture of the final material. 

X-ray tomoscopy, was found to be particularly well suited to study the freeze casting process in situ. The freeze casting process is attractive because the features of the final hierarchical material architecture, which determine the material’s structural, mechanical and physical properties, can be custom designed for a given application. Overall porosity, pore size, geometry, orientation, particle packing in cell walls and cell wall surface features can be tailored for applications in, for example, biomedicine, environmental engineering, catalysis, power conversion, and energy generation and storage.