Hierarchically porous lanthanum zirconate foams with low thermal conductivity from particle-stabilized foams

Lanthanum zirconate (LZO) ceramic foams with hierarchical pore structure were fabricated by particle-stabilized foaming method for the first time, and the as-prepared ceramics have high porosity of 90.7%-94.9%, low thermal conductivity, and relatively high compressive strength. The LZO powder was synthesized by solid-state method. The porosity of the ceramic foams was tailored by suspensions with different solid loadings (20-40 wt%). The sample with porosity of 94.9% has thermal conductivity of 0.073 W/(m·K) and compressive strength of 1.19 MPa, which exhibits outstanding property of thermal insulation and mechanical performance, indicating that LZO ceramic foam is a promising thermal insulation material in high temperature applications.