Titanium Porous Body Sintering Without Binder
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for producing titanium-based porous bodies for battery electrodes and filters face challenges in achieving high specific surface area, void fraction, conductivity, gas permeability, and water permeability while maintaining bending strength, with previous methods resulting in low reaction efficiency, reduced permeability, and increased carbon content.
Innovation Solution
A method involving the use of irregular-shaped titanium-based powder with specific particle size and circularity, sintered without pressurization, to produce a titanium-based porous body with controlled specific surface area and void fraction, ensuring good conductivity, gas and water permeability, and bending strength, using a dry system and controlled sintering temperatures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of stationary object
If titanium fibers are sintered to produce high void fraction, then void fraction is improved (70-90%), but specific surface area becomes small and conductivity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses gas-atomized titanium powder to create a porous structure with controlled void fraction (40-70%) and high specific surface area. The porous morphology is achieved through gas atomization process that creates spherical particles with internal porosity, which when sintered maintain both high void fraction and large surface area for catalyst support.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the particle morphology parameter from fibrous to spherical gas-atomized powder, and controls particle size distribution (D50: 10-50 μm, D90: 75-150 μm). This parameter change allows achieving both high void fraction and high specific surface area simultaneously, resolving the contradiction between porosity and surface area.
2Shape
If paste binder is kneaded into titanium powder for sintering, then through-holes are formed, but production steps become complicated and carbon content increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes the paste binder component from the sintering process. Instead of using binder-kneading methods, the invention uses green strength of compacted gas-atomized powder alone, eliminating the need for organic binders and subsequent debinding steps, thus simplifying production and reducing carbon content.
Solution Approach 2:
The gas-atomized titanium powder itself provides the necessary green strength for compaction and sintering without requiring external binder materials. The powder particles interlock during compaction to form a self-supporting green body that can be sintered directly, making the process self-sufficient and eliminating binder-related complexity.
3Quantity of substance
If high bulk density titanium powder is used for sintering, then sintering is easier, but void fraction cannot reach 55% or more, deteriorating gas and water permeability
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using high bulk density powder that packs tightly, the patent inverts the approach by using gas-atomized powder with controlled lower bulk density and specific particle morphology. The spherical shape with controlled size distribution creates optimal packing arrangements that achieve high void fraction (40-70%) while maintaining sufficient green strength for processing.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The method effectively produces titanium-based porous bodies with optimized specific surface area, void fraction, and surface roughness, maintaining bending strength and reducing carbon concentration, thereby enhancing reaction efficiency and permeability while minimizing electric resistance.
Implementation Method 1
a method involving the use of irregular-shaped titanium-based powder with specific particle size and circularity, sintered without pressurization, to produce a titanium-based porous body
Data Source
AI summary
To provide a titanium-based porous body that has high void fraction to ensure gas permeability and water permeability for practical use as an electrode and a filter, has a large specific surface area to ensure conductivity and sufficient reaction sites with a reaction solution or a reaction gas, thus showing excellent reaction efficiency, and contains less contaminants because of no organic substance used. A titanium-based porous body having a specific void fraction and a high specific surface area is obtained by filling an irregular-shaped titanium powder having an average particle size of 10 to 50 µm in a dry system without using any binder or the like into a thickness of 4.0 × 10-1 to 1.6 mm, and sintering the irregular-shaped titanium powder at 800 to 1100°C.