Wicking into porous polymer-derived ceramic monoliths fabricated by freeze-casting

Silicon oxycarbide monoliths of different pore size distribution were fabricated by freeze-casting. The samples revealed a lamellar pore structure with an axial anisotropy. To evaluate the capillary transport abilities we performed wicking experiments. The sample weight measurement method was applied during the imbibition. The samples show deviations in permeability from 10% to 49% at different sample orientations that quantifies the impact of the anisotropy in the axial direction. The deviations were larger for the samples with smaller pore size. For these samples we also observed larger differences in the wicking behaviour. The samples with bigger pore size demonstrated higher permeability and faster wicking. Imbibition results at both sample orientations showed a good agreement with a prediction via the Lucas–Washburn equation with gravity effects. We demonstrate hereby, that our approach of macroscopic modelling predicts wicking behaviour in anisotropic structures reasonably well, providing a simple tool for further porous material investigations.