“When solutions and slurries are directionally solidified, complex dynamics of solvent crystal growth and solvent templating determine the final hierarchical architecture of the freeze-cast material. With continuous X-ray tomoscopy, it is now possible to study in situ intricate and otherwise elusive ice crystal growth and solvent-templating phenomena. … The freeze casting process is attractive because the features of the final hierarchical material architecture … can be custom designed for a given application … [and] can be tailored for applications in, for example, biomedicine, environmental engineering, catalysis, power conversion, and energy generation and storage.
Find the paper and full list of authors at Nature Reviews.