A method for producing a form-stable phase-change material to nucleate sugar alcohols includes directionally freezing a slurry of solid chitosan and solvent and additives, providing a frozen slurry including unidirectional pillars of frozen solvent that force suspended solid particles into interstices, exposing the frozen slurry to conditions causing sublimation of the solvent of the frozen slurry to remove frozen solvent and provide a body having pillars of vacancies therein, sintering the body to provide a scaffold including the pillars of vacancies therein, graphitizing the scaffold by heating in argon, treating the scaffold with aqueous base, and adding a molten sugar alcohol phase-change material to the scaffold such that the molten phase-change material is drawn into the pillars of vacancies by capillary action to provide the form-stable phase-change material having reduced hysteresis of the melting point of the sugar alcohol phase-change material.

A honeycomb structure includes a pillar-shaped honeycomb structure body including porous partition walls defining and forming a plurality of cells which extend from an inflow end face to an outflow end face, and a porous outer wall surrounding the partition walls, a porous supporting bulge disposed to extend out from a circumference of the outer wall so that at least a part of the outer wall is exposed, and plugging portions arranged in open ends of the cells, and the supporting bulge has support portions and a side wall portion, and the partition walls and the outer wall of the honeycomb structure body and the support portions and the side wall portion of the supporting bulge are all formed monolithically by formation of a ceramic raw material.

A honeycomb structure includes a pillar-shaped honeycomb structure body including porous partition walls defining and forming a plurality of cells which extend from an inflow end face to an outflow end face, and a porous outer wall surrounding the partition walls, a porous supporting bulge disposed to extend out from a circumference of the outer wall so that at least a part of the outer wall is exposed, and plugging portions arranged in open ends of the cells, and the supporting bulge has support portions and a side wall portion, and the partition walls and the outer wall of the honeycomb structure body and the support portions and the side wall portion of the supporting bulge are all formed monolithically by formation of a ceramic raw material.

A method for producing a porous element is presented. A powdery metal-ceramic composite material is produced. The composite material has a metal matrix and a ceramic portion amounting to less than 25 percent by volume. The metal matrix is at least partially oxidized to obtain a metal oxide. The metal-ceramic composite material is grinded and mixed with powdery ceramic supporting particles to obtain a metal-ceramic/ceramic mixture. The metal-ceramic/ceramic mixture is shaped into the porous element. The porous element can be used as an energy storage medium in a battery.

A method for producing a porous element is presented. A powdery metal-ceramic composite material is produced. The composite material has a metal matrix and a ceramic portion amounting to less than 25 percent by volume. The metal matrix is at least partially oxidized to obtain a metal oxide. The metal-ceramic composite material is grinded and mixed with powdery ceramic supporting particles to obtain a metal-ceramic/ceramic mixture. The metal-ceramic/ceramic mixture is shaped into the porous element. The porous element can be used as an energy storage medium in a battery.

A method for producing a porous element is presented. A powdery metal-ceramic composite material is produced. The composite material has a metal matrix and a ceramic portion amounting to less than 25 percent by volume. The metal matrix is at least partially oxidized to obtain a metal oxide. The metal-ceramic composite material is grinded and mixed with powdery ceramic supporting particles to obtain a metal-ceramic/ceramic mixture. The metal-ceramic/ceramic mixture is shaped into the porous element. The porous element can be used as an energy storage medium in a battery.

Green ceramic batch mixtures include: at least one inorganic batch component, preferably cordierite; at least one binder, preferably polyisoprene, poly(vinyl formal), poly(vinyl methyl ether), polybutadiene carboxy terminated; and an inverse emulsion having a continuous phase, an aqueous dispersed phase, and at least one emulsifier, preferably at least one functionalized silicone compound having at least one functional group chosen from a hydroxyl group, a carboxyl group, hydroxyl-terminated ethylene oxide groups.

Green ceramic batch mixtures include: at least one inorganic batch component, preferably cordierite; at least one binder, preferably polyisoprene, poly(vinyl formal), poly(vinyl methyl ether), polybutadiene carboxy terminated; and an inverse emulsion having a continuous phase, an aqueous dispersed phase, and at least one emulsifier, preferably at least one functionalized silicone compound having at least one functional group chosen from a hydroxyl group, a carboxyl group, hydroxyl-terminated ethylene oxide groups.

Disclosed herein is a method of: placing between a cooling element and an opposing surface a slurry of: a dielectric powder containing barium titanate, a dispersant, a binder, and water; maintaining the cooling element at a temperature below the opposing surface to cause the formation of ice platelets perpendicular to the surface of the cooling element and having the powder between the platelets; subliming the ice platelets to create voids; sintering the powder to form the dielectric material; and filling the voids with the polymeric material. The process can produce a composite having: a sintered dielectric material of barium titanate and platelets of a polymeric material embedded in the dielectric material. Each of the platelets is perpendicular to a surface of the composite.

Methods are described to make strong, tough, and lightweight whisker-reinforced glass-ceramic composites through a self-toughening structure generated by viscous reaction sintering of a complex mixture of oxides. The invention further relates to strong, tough, and lightweight glass-ceramic composites that can be used as proppants and for other uses.