Abstract
Metal foams have a cellular structure consisting of a solid metal containing a large volume fraction of pores. In particular, open, penetrating pores are necessary for industrial applications such as in high temperature filters and as a support for catalysts. In this study, Fe foam with above 90% porosity and 2 millimeter pore size was successfully fabricated by a slurry coating process and the pore properties were characterized. The Fe and $Fe_2O_3$ powder mixing ratios were controlled to produce Fe foams with different pore size and porosity. First, the slurry was prepared by uniform mixing with powders, distilled water and polyvinyl alcohol(PVA). After slurry coating on the polyurethane(PU) foam, the sample was dried at $80^{\circ}C$. The PVA and PU foams were then removed by heating at $700^{\circ}C$ for 3 hours. The debinded samples were subsequently sintered at $1250^{\circ}C$ with a holding time of 3 hours under hydrogen atmosphere. The three dimensional geometries of the obtained Fe foams with an open cell structure were investigated using X-ray micro CT(computed tomography) as well as the pore morphology, size and phase. The coated amount of slurry on the PU foam were increased with $Fe_2O_3$ mixing powder ratio but the shrinkage and porosity of Fe foams were decreased with $Fe_2O_3$ mixing powder ratio.
