Articles
  • Preparation of hierarchically porous silica ceramics using porous powders as raw materials and pore-forming agents

  • Weichun Changa, Chunman Lia, Xuewei Lia, Xin Zhanga, Xinshuang Guob,*, Guoxiang Zhouc and Haifeng Guob,*

  • aPipeChina Science and Technology Research Institute, Binhai Tianjin 610500, China
    bEngineering & Technology Research Center for Environmental Protection Materials and Equipment of Jiangxi Province, College of Materials and Chemical Engineering, Pingxiang University, Pingxiang 337055, PR China
    cAdvanced Ceramics and Intelligent Manufacturing Research Center, Chongqing Research Institute, Harbin Institute of Technology, Chongqing 401151, PR China

  • This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Hierarchically porous silica ceramics were prepared by gel casting using the pore structures of fly ash hollow spheres (FAHSs), diatomite and expanded perlite as non-sacrificial templates. The effects of the amount of dispersant and binder (sol), FAHS particle size, slurry composition and sintering temperature on the structure and properties of porous ceramics were investigated. Results showed that the structural inhomogeneity of porous ceramics could be avoided by using sodium carboxymethyl cellulose as dispersant. Using silica sol as binder and FAHSs, diatomite and perlite powder as main raw materials, the porous ceramics prepared at 1200 °C not only have obvious hierarchical pore structures, but also have low diameter shrinkage (1.99%), high compressive strength (18.54 MPa) and excellent thermal insulation. This paper provides a method to prepare hierarchical porous ceramics using porous inorganic powders as raw material and pore-forming agent, and addresses the resource utilization of porous powders represented by FAHSs.


Keywords: Porous ceramics, Hierarchical pore structure, Porous ceramic powders, Non-sacrificial templates, FAHS utilization.

This Article

  • 2026; 27(1): 71-78

    Published on Feb 28, 2026

  • 10.36410/jcpr.2026.27.1.71
  • Received on Aug 24, 2025
  • Revised on Nov 30, 2025
  • Accepted on Dec 23, 2025

Correspondence to

  • Xinshuang Guo and Haifeng Guo

  • Engineering & Technology Research Center for Environmental Protection Materials and Equipment of Jiangxi Province, College of Materials and Chemical Engineering, Pingxiang University, Pingxiang 337055, PR China
    Tel : +86 799 6682008 Fax: +86 799 6682008

  • E-mail: xsguo12b@alum.imr.ac.cn (Xinshuang Guo), guohaifen