Zersplitterte

Zersplitterte is a term used in materials science and physics to describe a state or process in which a solid material is deliberately fractured into many small fragments, resulting in a highly fragmented, porous microstructure with a large surface area. The word is derived from the German zersplittern ("to shatter") and the participial ending -te, and is typically used as an adjective or noun in technical contexts.

In practice, zersplitterte microstructures can be produced by mechanical methods such as high-energy milling or by rapid thermal or chemical quenching that drives rapid crack propagation and fragmentation. The fragment size distribution is usually broad, spanning from the micron down to the nanometer scale, and the material contains an interconnected network of interfaces and voids.

Applications of zersplitterte materials are primarily in areas that benefit from high surface area and short diffusion paths, including catalysts, electrode materials for batteries and supercapacitors, and composite fillers. They offer advantages in reactivity and mass transport but can pose challenges for mechanical strength, packing density, and reproducibility of the porosity.

Etymologically, the term is most common in German-language technical literature and has been adopted in some English-language sources to describe fragmentation phenomena. It is not an official, standardized category, and usage varies between disciplines.

Related concepts include fragmentation, fractography, and nanostructuring. Further information typically appears in materials science texts on microstructure control and surface engineering.