Alumina Foam

Alumina foam is a kind of ceramic foam with cellular structure. Due to the cellular structure, formed by a 3D network of struts, alumina foam combines such interesting properties as small deadweight and low pressure drop (in fluidic applications) with reasonable mechanical stability and refractoriness, which implies good product characteristics and a wide range of applications.

Alumina ceramic foams are usually manufactured using the polymeric sponge method (Figure 1) ^[1]. This method involves the impregnation of a polyurethane sponge with slurries that are made of Al₂O₃ particles. This is then followed by pyrolysis and sintering to solidify the foam and make it hard.

Fig. 1 General route toward reticulated alumina foam

Basic Parameters

Special Properties

• Excellent mechanical property—Higher strength than refractory ceramic fiber and lightweight ceramic brick.
• Heat-conducting property—Low thermal conductivity and linear thermal expansion coefficient.
• Corrosion resistance—Alumina foam has high resistance to oxidant and acid corrosion.

Applications

Alumina foam can be encountered in a wide range of applications, such as lightweight design, separation processes for gases and liquids, fluidic applications, both electrical and thermal insulation, catalyst supports in heterogeneous catalysis. We mainly introduce the following applications:

• Filter Material

Alumina foam can be used as filter material for the filtration of aluminum and aluminum alloys in foundries and cast houses. Due to its excellent resistance to attack and corrosion from molten aluminum, alumina foam filter can effectively remove inclusions, reduce trapped gas, and provide laminar flow, and then the filtered metal is significantly cleaner.

• Catalyst Support

Due to its high resistance toward chemicals and excellent mechanical properties, alumina foam is suitable catalyst supports with high temperature stability used, for example, in catalytic cracking processes or combined heat and power units.

Alfa Chemistry is a leading manufacturer of alumina foams. The other sizes can be manufactured in accordance with the clients' request. To place an order or request a quote, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Reference

1. Simon Carstens, Kathleen Dammler, Michael Scheffler, et al. Reticulated Alumina Replica Foams with Additional Sub‐Micrometer Strut Porosity. Adv. Eng. Mater. 2019, 21, 1900791.