HSA-Cercanam®: A New Material with a Continuous Nanopore Network

ABSTRACTA novel nano-ceramic material, called HSA-CERCANAM®, which has a very high surface area with a nanopore network has been developed. HSA-CERCANAM® can be casted in various shapes and forms resulting in a monolithic piece that has surface area as high as 80–100 m2/g. The surface area and the nanopore network of HSA-CERCANAM® remains stable at temperatures as high as 1000°C. Furthermore, the unique nature of HSA-CERCANAM® allows it to be casted on and around features, either sacrificial or permanent. Using sacrificial features, microchannels can be incorporated internally into the monolithic HSA-CERCANAM® piece in a simple, one-step process. Further, this monolithic ceramic component, which has an intrinsically high surface area and a nanopore network, can be infiltrated with a desired catalyst. This could offer clear technological advantages over currently available microreactors. The surface area, porosity, catalyst type and infiltration levels are some of the ways in which tailored microstructures can be realized in components such as mixers, heat exchangers, extractors, filters or reaction chambers thereby leading to highly efficient, multi-functional ceramic micro-devices.