Additively manufactured polymer-derived ceramics with hierarchical porosity for chemical engineering applications

The design freedom provided by additive manufacturing technologies allows the realization of complex geometrically defined structures that can significantly enhance the performance of chemical engineering systems. Approaches for e.g. tailor-made filters, fluidic mixing elements, novel heat exchangers or defined catalyst supports have already been demonstrated in recent years. Polymer-derived ceramics are a variable option to additively fabricate very fine structures via vat photopolymerization. In this context, the variability of preceramic polymers allows, in addition to the specific selection of precursor elements, the integration of a second hierarchical level of porosity within the structures of the ceramics produced in this way by using nanoscale pore-formers. In the paper, ways to fabricate additively manufactured ceramics based on preceramic polymers are shown, which have structures with optimized flow paths and very high specific surface areas and are therefore predestined for exchange reactions. Application examples are used to demonstrate the potential of such material systems for adsorption/desorption systems like liquid chromatography columns