Overview

Project P 29058 funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF)

Funding period 10/2016 - 12/2020

 

Aims

In our research project, we explore novel ceramic materials, formed by a controlled heat treatment of silicon-based polymers, which contain microporosity in the size range below one nanometer, and which we anticipate to be applicable as materials for the separation of gases at high temperatures. The focus of our project is set on exploring the origin and collapse of microporosity in these materials, and to investigate how the pore structure affects the interaction of the materials with gases and gas mixtures.

To achieve our project objectives, we first clarify the impact of a wide range of process parameters on the polymer-to-ceramic transformation of the investigated materials, employing a combination of state-of-the-art and non-conventional techniques to unravel the chemical setup and composition as well as the micropore structure, some methods of which we develop and conduct in cooperation with national and international collaborators.

 

Project team

Principal investigator

Dr. Thomas Konegger

Project team members

Christina Drechsel (PhD student, 10/2016 - 09/2019)

Thomas Prochaska (Master student, 10/2016 - 07/2017)

Johannes Rauchenecker (Master student, 10/2017 - 05/2017)

Matthias Nebel (Master student, 12/2017 - 05/2018)

Felix Frank (Master student, 12/2018 - 04/2020)

 

Publications

Journal articles

  • T. Konegger, T. Prochaska, D. Brouczek: Porosity control in silicon nitride-based support materials towards enhanced gas permeability; International Journal of Applied Ceramic Technology, 19 (2022), 165-173. (DOI: 10.1111/ijac.13803)
  • T. Konegger, C. Drechsel, H. Peterlik: in-situ Small Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS) - a versatile tool for clarifying the evolution of microporosity in polymer-derived ceramics; Microporous and Mesoporous Materials, 324 (2021), 111268. (DOI: 10.1016/j.micromeso.2021.111268)
  • C. Drechsel, H. Peterlik, C. Gierl-Mayer, M. Stöger-Pollach, T. Konegger: Influence of DVB as linker molecule on the micropore formation in polymer-derived SiCN ceramics; Journal of the European Ceramic Society, 41 (2021), 6, 3292-3302. (DOI: 10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2021.01.051).
  • D. Brouczek, T. Konegger: Open-porous Silicon Nitride-based Ceramics in Tubular Geometry Obtained by Slipcasting and Gelcasting. Advanced Engineering Materials, 19 (2017), Art. 1700434. (DOI: 10.1002/adem.201700434) [Post-print at institutional repository]

Other articles

  • T. Konegger: Poröse und zellulare Keramiken auf Basis präkeramischer Polymere;
    DGM-dIALOG - Materialwissenschaft und Werkstofftechnik, 2/2018 (2018), 104 - 109.

Theses

  • C. Drechsel: Micropore evolution in polymer-derived ceramics.
    PhD Thesis. TU Wien, Institute of Chemical Technologies and Analytics. Final exam: 10.12.2021.
  • F. Frank: Gas permeance characteristics of microporous polymer-derived ceramics.
    Diploma Thesis. TU Wien, Institute of Chemical Technologies and Analytics. Final exam: 30.04.2020.
  • M. Nebel: Modification of preceramic polymers and investigation of their porosity development.
    Diploma thesis. TU Wien, Institute of Chemical Technologies and Analytics. Final exam: 29.04.2019.
  • J. Rauchenecker: Deposition of polymer-derived ceramic layers with asymmetric porosity.
    Diploma thesis. TU Wien, Institute of Chemical Technologies and Analytics. Final exam: 25.06.2018
  • T. Prochaska: Porous Si3N4-based Support Materials with tailored Gas Permeability.
    Diploma thesis. TU Wien, Institute of Chemical Technologies and Analytics. Final exam: 19.12.2017.

 

Project activities

12/2021 Christina successfully defended her PhD thesis, opens an external URL in a new window on "Micropore evolution in polymer-derived ceramics". Congratulations, Christina!
06/2021 A Short Communication titled "in-situ Small Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS) - a versatile tool for clarifying the evolution of microporosity in polymer-derived ceramics", containing essential findings of the Micropore project, was accepted for publication in Microporous and Mesoporous Materials. [DOI: 10.1016/j.micromeso.2021.111268, opens an external URL in a new window]
05/2021

A paper titled "Porosity control in silicon nitride-based support materials towards enhanced gas permeability", containing results of the Micropore project, was accepted as a full article in International Journal of Applied Ceramic Technology. [DOI: 10.1111/ijac.13803, opens an external URL in a new window]
01/2021 Christina's work on "Influence of DVB as linker molecule on the micropore formation in polymer-derived SiCN ceramics" was accepted as a full article in Journal of the European Ceramic Society. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2021.01.051, opens an external URL in a new window]
04/2020 Felix Frank successfully defended his Master Thesis, opens an external URL in a new window on Gas Permeance Characteristics of Microporous Polymer-derived Ceramics. Great job, Felix!
01/2020 Thomas gave an invited talk on recent project activities at the 44th International Conference on Advanced Ceramics and Composites (ICACC) in Daytona Beach, USA.
06/2019 At the ECerS conference in Torino, Italy, Christina gave a talk on the effect of divinylbenzene on the pore structure in PDCs.
05/2019 Christina presented results on the tailoring of microporosity using linker molecules at the 7. Jahrestagung der Österreichischen Keramischen Gesellschaft (AuCerS) in Leoben, Austria.
04/2019 Matthias Nebel successfully defended his Diploma Thesis, opens an external URL in a new window on Modification of preceramic polymers and investigation of their porosity development. Congratulations, Matthias!
12/2018 Felix Frank joins our team for his Master Thesis. Welcome, Felix!
06/2018 Thomas gave an invited talk involving project activities at the ICC7 conference in Foz do Iguacu, Brazil.
06/2018 Christina presented project results during a talk at the CIMTEC 2018 conference in Perugia, Italy.
06/2018 Johannes and Matthias showcased some of their results as poster presentations at the VSS 2018 - Vienna Young Scientists Symposium.
06/2018 Johannes Rauchenecker successfully defended his Master Thesis, opens an external URL in a new window on Deposition of polymer-derived ceramic layers with asymmetric porosity- congratulations!
04/2018 Thomas gave a Keynote Lecture at the 93rd Annual Meeting of the German Ceramic Society / Symposium Hochleistungskeramik in Munich, presenting several project-related aspects with regard to porous ceramics.
02/2018 Christina Drechsel spent two months at Clemson University for a project-related research stay.
02/2018 Thomas Prochaska won 3rd Place in the Master Thesis Competition of the Austrian Ceramic Society. Congratulations!
12/2017 Thomas Prochaska successfully defended his master thesis, opens an external URL in a new window on Porous Si3N4-based Support Materials with tailored Gas Permeability. Congratulations, Thomas!
12/2017 Matthias Nebel joins us for his Master Thesis, which will contribute to our project. Welcome!
11/2017 Christina Drechsel was awarded a Christiana-Hörbiger-Award, opens an external URL in a new window by TU Wien, supporting an upcoming research stay in the US. Congratulations, Christina!
10/2017 Johannes Rauchenecker joins the project team for his Master thesis - welcome!
07/2017 Publication of a journal article in Advanced Engineering Materials [DOI: 10.1002/adem.201700434, opens an external URL in a new window]
07/2017 Presentation of project results at 15th Conference of the European Ceramic Society in Budapest, Hungary (1 talk by Thomas, 1 poster, opens an external URL in a new window by Christina).
07/2017 Publication of a journal article in Key Engineering Materials [DOI: 10.4028/www.scientific.net/KEM.742.310, opens an external URL in a new window] [Post-print, opens a file in a new window]
07/2017 Presentation of project results at 21. Symposium Verbundwerkstoffe und Werkstoffverbunde in Bremen, Germany (1 talk by Thomas).
06/2017

Presentation of project results at Vienna Young Scientist Symposium (2 talks by Christina and Thomas).
04/2017 Presentation of project results at International Forum - Contest `Topical Issues of Rational Use of Natural Resources´ in St. Petersburg, Russia (1 talk by Christina).
With her talk, Christina won 2nd Place in the Student Speech Contest - Congratulations!
02/2017 Presentation of project results at Meeting of the Austrian Ceramic Society in Graz, Austria (1 talk by Christina).
With her talk, Christina won 3rd Place in the Student Speech Contest - Congratulations!
10/2016 Project kickoff; Christina Drechsel and Thomas Prochaska join the project team