Porieanalyse

Porieanalyse (pore analysis) is the set of techniques used to characterize the pore structure of porous materials. It seeks to quantify porosity, pore-size distribution, pore throat diameter, pore connectivity, specific surface area, and total pore volume. The information obtained informs transport, storage, catalysis, and mechanical properties across disciplines such as soil science, geology, materials science, and energy storage.

Common methods include gas adsorption (BET for surface area; BJH or similar for pore-size distribution), mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) for a wide range of pore sizes, capillary rise and imbibition methods for accessible porosity, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) porosimetry, and imaging techniques such as X-ray computed tomography (micro-CT) to quantify connectivity and tortuosity. Small-angle scattering methods (SAXS, USAXS) can probe nanoporosity, while pore-network modeling interprets data in terms of pore networks.

Applications span soils and sediments to predict water retention and flow; rocks and reservoirs to estimate storage and permeability; catalysts and adsorbents to optimize mass transport and surface reactions; and ceramics and energy materials (battery electrodes, supercapacitors) where pore structure governs performance.

Limitations include sample alteration during drying or testing, the destructive nature of some methods (e.g., MIP), model-dependent interpretation (assumptions about pore geometry), resolution limits, and representativity issues.

History: The field developed through 19th–20th century advances in porosimetry and adsorption measurements, with ongoing progress as imaging and tomography enable non-destructive, three-dimensional analyses of pore networks.