Porosity is a fundamental materials and geoscience topic describing the fraction of a solid’s volume occupied by voids or pores, typically expressed as a dimensionless ratio or percentage. It governs key transport and mechanical properties, including permeability, diffusivity, capillary behavior, and strength. Porosity can be classified as open or closed, effective or total, and micro- or macroporosity, depending on pore connectivity and scale. Quantification methods include mercury intrusion porosimetry, gas adsorption, microcomputed tomography, and image analysis. In research, porosity is central to the design and characterization of rocks, soils, ceramics, membranes, catalysts, and engineered porous media for applications such as filtration, energy storage, and tissue engineering.
Space dust provides more than just awe-inspiring pictures like the Pillars of Creation. It can provide the necessary materials to build everything from planets to asteroids. But what it actually looks like, especially in ...
Astronomy
Nov 10, 2025
0
38
Metal oxide materials with nanoscale pores have been applied and studied in a wide range of fields, including as catalysts, adsorption and separation materials, and energy materials. Among them, single-crystalline nanoporous ...
Nanomaterials
Aug 18, 2025
0
64
Voids, or empty spaces, exist within matter at all scales, from the astronomical to the microscopic. In a new study, researchers used high-powered microscopy and mathematical theory to unveil nanoscale voids in three dimensions. ...
Nanomaterials
Apr 11, 2024
0
583
Nanoporous membranes have been shown to be valuable tools for filtering out impurities from water and numerous other applications. However, there's still much work to be done in perfecting their designs. Recently, the lab ...
Nanomaterials
Feb 7, 2024
0
133
There is an entire aqueous universe hidden within the tiny pores of many natural and engineered materials. Research from the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis has shown that when such materials ...
Nanomaterials
Aug 25, 2022
0
140
Researchers from Bielefeld, Bochum and Yale have succeeded in producing a layer of two-dimensional (2D) silicon dioxide. This material contains natural pores and can therefore be used like a sieve for molecules and ions. ...
Nanomaterials
Mar 7, 2022
0
109
