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Mike

What is the definition of porous materials?

Charlie  Follow

I have used the following definition in my presentations:

"Porosity is where a material has accessible voids which are permeable to liquids or gases".

Another definition:

"a solid with pores, i.e. cavities, channels or interstices, which are deeper than they are wide."

IUPAC also defines different types of porosity based on the diameters of the pores:

  • Micropores: d < 2 nm
  • Mesopores: 2 < d < 50 nm
  • Macropores: d > 50 nm

M. Thommes, K. Kaneko, A. V. Neimark, J. P. Olivier, F. Rodriguez-Reinoso, J. Rouquerol, K. S. W. Sing, Physisorption of gases, with special reference to the evaluation of surface area and pore size distribution (IUPAC Technical Report), Pure Appl. Chem. 2015, 87, 1051.

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Douglas Klein  Follow
Although this answer is helpful it is directed towards defining porosity not porous materials. The question is rather to distinguish between porous and nonporous material. What level of porosity is agreed upon to qualify a material as porous? 1%, 30%, 80% ? Is there a consensus at all? Is there any informal definition anywhere?More
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