Effect of Processing Conditions on the Properties of Reticulated Porous Diatomite–Kaolin Composites

Abstract

Porous ceramics have been extensively investigated because of their high-temperature and chemical stabilities, which are far superior to those of porous polymers and porous metals, despite their mechanical instability. Among various kinds of porous ceramic, reticulated porous ceramics have attracted considerable attention because of their extremely high porosity, which is generally higher than 90% and can maximize the advantages of this class of materials. However, to the best of our knowledge, sufficient data are not available on the preparation of low-cost, abundant, and natural material-based reticulated porous ceramics. Therefore, we obtained and characterized reticulated porous diatomite–kaolin composites prepared under various processing conditions, such as solid loading, average particle size, and pore density. The experimental data were used to investigate whether the densities and compressive strengths of the reticulated porous diatomite–kaolin composite can be tailored, and to assess the potential of these materials in different application fields.