The synthesis of porous W by freeze-casting and vacuum drying is investigated. Ball-milled WO₃ powders and tert-butyl alcohol were used as the starting materials. The tert-butyl alcohol slurry is frozen at –25°C and dried under vacuum at –25 and –10°C. The dried bodies are hydrogen-reduced at 800°C and sintered at 1000°C. The XRD analysis shows that WO₃ is completely reduced to W without any reaction phases. SEM observations reveal that the struts and pores aligned in the tert-butyl alcohol growth direction, and the change in the powder content and drying temperature affects the pore structure. Furthermore, the struts of the porous body fabricated under vacuum are thinner than those fabricated under atmospheric pressure. This behavior is explained by the growth mechanism of tert-butyl alcohol and rearrangement of the powders during solidification. These results suggest that the pore structure of a porous body can be controlled by the powder content, drying temperature, and pressure.

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• Fabrication of porous W by freeze-casting and hydrogen reduction of camphene-based WO 3 suspension
  Ji Won Choi, Youngmin Kim, Ji Young Kim, Eui Seon Lee, Sung-Tag Oh
  Powder Metallurgy.2025;[Epub]     CrossRef
• Fabrication of Porous TiO2 with Aligned Pores Using Tert-Butyl Alcohol Based Freeze Casting
  Eui Seon Lee, Sung-Tag Oh
  Korean Journal of Metals and Materials.2024; 62(12): 929.     CrossRef

The effects of drying temperature on the microstructure of porous W fabricated by the freeze-casting process of tert-butyl alcohol slurry with WO₃ powder was investigated. Green bodies were hydrogen-reduced at 800°C for 1 h and sintered at 1000°C for 6 h. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that WO₃ powders were completely converted to W without any reaction phases by hydrogen reduction. The sintered body showed pores aligned in the direction of tertbutyl alcohol growth, and the porosity and pore size decreased as the amount of WO₃ increased from 5 to 10v ol%. As the drying temperature of the frozen body increased from -25°C to -10°C, the pore size and thickness of the struts increased. The change in microstructural characteristics based on the amount of powder added and the drying temperature was explained by the growth behavior of the freezing agent and the degree of rearrangement of the solid powder during the solidification of the slurry.

The effect of tert-butyl alcohol (TBA) as a freezing solvent on the pore structure of a porous tungsten body prepared by freeze-drying is analyzed. TBA slurries with a WO₃ content of 10 vol% are prepared by mixing with a small amount of dispersant and binder at 30°C. The slurries are frozen at -25°C, and pores are formed in the frozen specimens by the sublimation of TBA during drying in air. After hydrogen reduction at 800°C and sintering at 1000°C, the green body of WO₃ is completely converted to porous W with various pore structures. Directional pores from the center of the specimen to the outside are observed in the sintered bodies because of the columnar growth of TBA. A decrease in pore directionality and porosity is observed in the specimens prepared by long-duration drying and sintering. The change in pore structure is explained by the growth of the freezing solvent and densification.

In this study, we synthesize tungsten oxide thin films by electrodeposition and characterize their electrochromic properties. Depending on the deposition modes, compact and porous tungsten oxide films are fabricated on a transparent indium tin oxide (ITO) substrate. The morphology and crystal structure of the electrodeposited tungsten oxide thin films are investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy is employed to verify the chemical composition and the oxidation state of the films. Compared to the compact tungsten oxides, the porous films show superior electrochemical activities with higher reversibility during electrochemical reactions. Furthermore, they exhibit very high color contrast (97.0%) and switching speed (3.1 and 3.2 s). The outstanding electrochromic performances of the porous tungsten oxide thin films are mainly attributed to the porous structure, which facilitates ion intercalation/deintercalation during electrochemical reactions.

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• A fast-response electrochromic device based on a composite gel film comprising triphenylamine derivatives and WO3
  Xuejian Zhang, Jinming Zeng, Zipeng Xu, Mimi Zhu, Ping Liu
  New Journal of Chemistry.2021; 45(12): 5503.     CrossRef

Porous W-10 wt% Ti alloys are prepared by freeze-drying a WO₃-TiH₂/camphene slurry, using a sintering process. X-ray diffraction analysis of the heat-treated powder in an argon atmosphere shows the WO₃ peak of the starting powder and reaction-phase peaks such as WO_2.9, WO₂, and TiO₂ peaks. In contrast, a powder mixture heated in a hydrogen atmosphere is composed of the W and TiW phases. The formation of reaction phases that are dependent on the atmosphere is explained by a thermodynamic consideration of the reduction behavior of WO₃ and the dehydrogenation reaction of TiH₂. To fabricate a porous W-Ti alloy, the camphene slurry is frozen at -30°C, and pores are generated in the frozen specimens by the sublimation of camphene while drying in air. The green body is hydrogen-reduced and sintered at 1000°C for 1 h. The sintered sample prepared by freeze-drying the camphene slurry shows large and aligned parallel pores in the camphene growth direction, and small pores in the internal walls of the large pores. The strut between large pores consists of very fine particles with partial necking between them.

Porous W with controlled pore structure was fabricated by thermal decomposition and hydrogen reduction process of PMMA beads and WO₃ powder compacts. The PMMA sizes of 8 and 50 μm were used as pore forming agent for fabricating the porous W. The WO₃ powder compacts with 20 and 70 vol% PMMA were prepared by uniaxial pressing and sintered for 2 h at 1200°C in hydrogen atmosphere. TGA analysis revealed that the PMMA was decomposed at about 400°C and WO₃ was reduced to metallic W at 800°C. Large pores in the sintered specimens were formed by thermal decomposition of spherical PMMA, and their size was increased with increase in PMMA size and the amount of PMMA addition. Also the pore shape was changed from spherical to irregular form with increasing PMMA contents due to the agglomeration of PMMA in the powder mixing process.

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• Synthesis of Porous Silica Particles Using Sodium Silicate Precursor for Water-Repellent Surfaces
  Young-Sang Cho, Nahee Ku, Young-Seok Kim
  JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING OF JAPAN.2019; 52(2): 194.     CrossRef