Pharmaceuticals
Porosity and surface area play major roles in the purification, processing, blending, tableting, and packaging of pharmaceutical products as well as a drug’s useful shelf life, its dissolution rate, and bio-availability.
Ceramics
Pore area and porosity affect the curing and bonding of greenware and influence strength, texture, appearance, and density of finished goods.
Adsorbents
Knowledge of pore area, total pore volume, and pore size distribution is important for quality control of industrial adsorbents and in the development of separation processes. Porosity and surface area characteristics determine the selectivity of an adsorbent.
Catalyst
The active surface area and pore structure of catalysts influence production rates. Limiting the pore size allows only molecules of desired sizes to enter and exit, creating a selective catalyst that will produce primarily the desired product.
Aerospace
Surface area and porosity of heat shields and insulating materials affect weight and function.
Fuel Cells
Fuel cell electrodes require controlled porosity with high surface area to produce adequate power density.
Geoscience
Porosity is important in groundwater hydrology and petroleum exploration because it relates to the quantity of fluid that a structure can contain as well as how much effort will be required to extract it.
Filtration
Pore size, pore volume, pore shape, and pore tortuosity are of interest to filter manufacturers. Often, pore shape has a more direct effect upon filtration than pore size because it strongly correlates with filtration performance and fouling.
Construction Materials
Diffusion, permeability, and capillary flow play important roles in the degradation processes in concrete, cement, and other construction materials.
Paper
The porosity of print media coating is important in offset printing where it affects blistering, ink receptivity, and ink holdout.
Medical Implants
Surface area and porosity of heat shields and insulating materials affect weight and function.
