A THEORETICAL AND MATHEMATICAL BASIS TOWARDS DISPERSING NANOPARTICLES AND BIOLOGICAL AGENTS IN A NON POLAR SOLVENT FOR FABRICATING POROUS MATERIALS

摘要

Porous materials are used in many different applications. These applications may require pores of different sizes, shapes and degree of connectivity. A novel method to fabricate porous materials has been described earlier where the pores in the material are produced by the death or the decomposition of the biological agent used. However to produce uniformity of the pores in the final structure, it is important to control the chemistry and rheological parameters during the fabrication process. Uniform dispersion of the nanoparticles around the biological agent is desired and the agglomeration of nanoparticles should be prevented. Dispersing nanoparticles with a suitable dispersant in the appropriate amount, while controlling the viscosity of the slurry are important factors and add an additional level of complexity when trying to fabricate materials with uniform porosity.