Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Water Absorption by Highly Porous Ceramic Materials

Abstract

A nontrivial character of water absorption in highly porous ceramic materials has been demonstrated for the first time by magnetic resonance imaging: a phenomenon of hygroscopic memory has been detected consisting in the concentration of adsorbed water in certain areas inside the sample, repeated during subsequent wetting with water. It has been shown that hydrophobization of the material by applying fluoro paraffin coatings to oxide fibers using the method of dissolution of fluoropolymers in supercritical CO₂ has a significant impact on the transport of water into products and can be considered an efficient means of protecting porous materials from moisture. The results demonstrate the capabilities of the MRI method in studying the water absorption and identifying water migration pathways in highly porous materials.