Abstract Scope |
Self-organized nanoporous materials have unique physical, chemical, and mechanical properties related to their nanoscale structure and large surface area but their performance is often limited by slow mass transport through their nanoporous architecture. Nature overcomes this limitation by intgrating functional macroscale architectures that, for example, provide organs with their unique functionality. Recent advances in 3D printing now enable fabrication of biomimetic hierarchical architectures based on self-organized nano-architectured materials. Among other processing techniques, 3D printing is unique by providing deterministic control over engineered macroscale features such as shape or macroporous flow chanels while the self-organizing „ink“ provides control over nanoscale features such as porosity or composition. This talk will provide an overview over recent work at LLNL to design, fabricate, integrate, characterize and test 3D printed hierarchical nanoporous materials based on metal or polymer self-organizing nanoporous „inks“. Examples include hierarchical nanoporous catalyst reactors, flow-through electrodes, membranes, and other functional structures. |