**Chen Yang**

College of Chemical Engineering, Fuzhou University, China

### **Dengwei Jing**

**1**

**Chapter 1**

**Abstract**

Applications

supports, and medical implantology.

catalysis, medical implantology

fulfill specific applications.

**1. Introduction**

Open-Pore Foams Modified by

Multiphase Foams for Thermal,

Catalytic and Medical Emerging

*Lucila Paola Maiorano Lauría and José Miguel Molina Jordá*

Recently, open-pore foam materials have acquired great interest in several technological sectors due to their excellent properties of low density, great specific surface area, adjustable thermal conductivity, and high-energy absorption. The replication method has proved to be one of the most widely used techniques for their manufacture, allowing a perfect control of the pores' characteristics from which the main properties of the foams derive. However, these properties have limited the use of these materials in ultimate applications of the most demanding emerging technologies. This chapter reviews recent developments of open-pore foams that have been modified by the incorporation of new phases in order to enhance their properties. The inclusion of new phases taking part of the microstructure or modifying the pore surfaces allows these materials to be considered promising for the most modern applications including, among others, thermal dissipation, catalytic

**Keywords:** open-pore foam, multiphase foam, inclusions, thermal management,

Foam materials were originally conceived by clear inspiration in some natural porous materials, such as wood, bamboo canes, or bones, as they present a very attractive combination of properties such as excellent mechanical strength blended with low density [1]. Motivated by the versatility of those natural porous materials, human ingenuity succeeded in the design of new foam materials, their most suitable manufacturing processes, and their use in technologically demanding applications. In recent years, foam materials have reached a high level of maturity in their manufacture, development, applications, and integration into complex systems to

Foam materials can be classified depending on their nature, pore interconnectivity, morphology of their cellular structure, or other variables that allow their differences to be outlined. A widespread classification divides foams into open-pore

Incorporation of New Phases:

International Research Center for Renewable Energy, State Key Lab of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, China
