Different goals, similar structure-property models
Porous materials are found in
- Functional materials:
- Paper and textiles
- Packaging
- Hygiene and wound care products
- Filters, foams, membranes
- Fibers and composites
- Ceramics and construction materials
- Nanoscale poromechanics
- Energy storage:
- Fuel cells
- Re-chargeable batteries
- Oil and gas recovery
- Geology:
- Geothermal energy
- C02 capture and storage
- Nuclear waste storage
- Groundwater
- Biology/medicine:
- Biofilms
- Bone tissue engineering
- Controlled drug release
- Soil engineering
- Food
- Release of aroma and taste
- Shelf life
With this wide range of applications focusing on porous materials, there are also a wide range of questions that are relevant to study when optimizing material functionality. In functional material design, the goal is often to to optimize for both material cost, environmental impact and functionality. For energy storage applications, such as re-chargeable lithium-ion batteries, questions relate to improving both performance, safety and durability. In pharmaceutical applications, such as porous coatings for controlled drug release, there are strict requirements on the reliability of release rates.
Although these application areas have different goals relating to structure-property optimization, similar models can in many cases be applied to connect the 3D structure with material properties. Some general examples of material properties of interest are
- Swelling and shrinking
- Mass transport: flow, diffusion etc.
- Electrical conductivity
- Heat transfer
Electrical conductivity, heat transfer and diffusion for example are all mathematically equivalent properties, and so the exact same models could be used for these properties. Flow depends in a more complex way on the 3D structure than diffusion. Still, similar models can be relevant for both types of mass transport.
See the Tutorial, Part I and Part II for more information about 3D structural features that are relevant for structure-property models and how to measure these in Mist. Scientific resources from a range of applications and with structure-property models that have been calibrated using statistical learning techniques are listed in Scientific Resources. See Tutorial, Connecting 3D geometry with material properties for details about the models.