Disclosed are a three-dimensional porous structure, a method of preparing the same, and applications thereof. The method includes coating a coating material including coal ash on a surface of a combustible organic particle to form a core-shell particle, wherein the core-shell particle includes a combustible organic particle core, and a coating shell covering at least a portion of the combustible organic particle surface; mixing a plurality of the core-shell particles with an organic or inorganic binder to form a three-dimensional structure in which the core-shell particles are bonded to each other; and performing thermal treatment of the three-dimensional structure, wherein in the thermal treatment of the three-dimensional structure, at least portion of the combustible organic particle in the core-shell particle is removed away, thereby forming a hollow inside the particle core, and forming a number of fine pores in the coating shell.

Provided are ceramic foams. The ceramic foams may have a hierarchical pore gradient. The ceramic foams may be silica aerogels. The ceramic foams may be made by reaction of one or more precursors in the presence of an inert gas generated by a pore-forming gas-forming additive. The ceramic foams may be used as insulating materials.

A mortar composition, in particular for preparing a viscoelastic body or structure, or for acoustic damping of at least one of a ship, an offshore installation and a building, includes: 1-20 wt % of a hydraulic binder, 30-80 wt % of aggregates, 5-75 wt % of a polymer, and 0.5-40 wt % of a porous filler.

An acoustical geopolymer panel element includes a layer including a fibre component and a geopolymer binder made from a mixture including ground mineral wool, and an additional layer including mineral wool. The layer including a fibre component and a geopolymer binder has a density in the range of 20-400 kg/m.sup.3, a porosity in the range of 0.75-0.99 and a thickness in the range of 5-75 mm. The ground mineral wool may be ground glass or stone wool and the fibre component may be a wood fibre component, a polymer fibre component and/or a mineral wool component. Further, a geopolymer mixture is provided upon recycling mineral wool which is ground to powder and mixed with an alkali activator component. Additionally, a method for producing acoustical geopolymer panel elements includes grinding elements including mineral wool for provision of a powder component.

Hydrophobized granular material comprising from 30 to 95% by weight of a pyrogenic mixed oxide based on silica and at least one oxide of metal M selected from of Al, Ti and Fe with the content of metal M oxide in the mixed oxide being from 01 to 10% by weight, and from 5 to 70% by weight of at least one IR-opacifier selected from the group consisting of silicon carbide, zirconium dioxide, ilmenites, iron titanates, zirconium silicates, manganese oxides, graphites, carbon blacks and mixtures thereof.

The present invention relates to a process for producing a hydrophobized shaped thermal-insulation body, comprising pressing or compacting a thermal-insulation mixture containing a silica, an IR opacifier, an organosilicon compound A and an organosilicon compound B, wherein organosilicon compound A is hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS) and organosilicon compound B corresponds to a substance of the formula R.sub.nSiX.sub.4-n, where R=hydrocarbyl radical having 1 to 18 carbon atoms, n=0, 1 or 2, X=Cl, Br or alkoxy group —OR.sup.1 where R.sup.1=hydrocarbyl radical having 1 to 8 carbon atoms, or organosilicon compound B corresponds to a silanol of the formula HO[—Si(CH.sub.3).sub.2O—].sub.mH, where m=2-100.

The present invention relates to a thermal insulating composition, containing 5 to 60% by weight of a hydrophobized granular material comprising fumed silica and at least one IR-opacifier, and 40 to 95% by weight of an inorganic and/or an organic binder, whereby the hydrophobized granular material has a content of free hydroxyl groups of no greater than 0.12 mmol/g, as determined by the reaction with lithium aluminium hydride.

Disclosed is a method of fabricating a construction element, the method comprising the manufacturing of a construction element including a slag, wherein the slag is comprising, on a dry basis and whereby the presence of a metal is expressed as the total of the metal present as elemental metal and the presence of the metal in an oxidized state, a) at least 7% wt and at most 49% wt of iron, Fe, b) at most 1.3% wt of copper, Cu, c) at least 24% wt and at most 44% wt of silicon dioxide, SiO.sub.2, d) at least 1.0% wt and at most 20% wt of calcium oxide, CaO, e) at least 0.10% wt and at most 1.50% wt of zinc, Zn, f) at least 0.10% wt and at most 2.5% wt of magnesium oxide, MgO, and g) at most 0.100% wt of lead, Pb.

Further disclosed are improved construction elements comprising the slag.

The present invention is related to materials of construction in the technical field of architecture and civil engineering, known as construction material for masonry; specifically, it is a compound made with a mixture of biodegradable cellulose matrix which is obtained from recyclable materials through an innovative method. Such compound, reaches higher resistance to compression in comparison to the known quality standards, even thought the resultant clusters, blocks or bricks, etc., are lighter due to their high cellulose content. This compound might be used, but not limited to, as raw material to produce hollow bricks, blocks, clusters and other conglomerates to build houses and buildings.

A product includes an aerogel having a single bulk structure, the single bulk structure having at least one dimension greater than 10 millimeters. The single bulk structure includes a plurality of pores, where each pore has a largest diameter defined as a greatest distance between pore walls of the respective pore. In addition, an average of the largest diameters of a majority of the pores is within a specified range, and the plurality of pores are distributed substantially homogenously throughout the single bulk structure.