It is our goal to understand the physics of transport and phase changes in complex permeable media, so we can better engineer materials for a sustainable society, i.e., materials for energy storage and technological porous materials.

We focus on the basic, fundamental questions that need to be answered to achieve a breakthrough

What is the value of research if not to make things better? At the Transport in Permeable Media (TPM) group, it is in our DNA to take inspiration for our activities from societal issues and applications. From this starting point, we focus on the basic, fundamental physics questions that need to be answered to achieve a breakthrough in application. For instance, energy storage can be achieved with crystalline materials that incorporate water into their crystal lattice. More sustainable permeable materials, as used for example in the steel and construction industry, can be made through a better understanding of aggressive phase changes such as boiling and crystallization in submicron pores. This is what we call basic use-inspired research.

Following from our focus on basic use-inspired research, the group fosters long-term cooperation with TNO, DSM, Océ, Caldic, NXP and Philips.

Within TPM, we pursue two research lines: the physical chemistry of materials for thermal energy storage and transport and phase changes in technical porous media. Both of these research lines are based on studying the motion of molecules through porous materials and the interaction of these molecules with the solid matrix, a process that can lead to phase changes. For instance, we are investigating hydration reactions of crystalline solids that are accompanied by an energy discharge. Another research focus is the way phase changes, such as boiling and crystallization, can exert pressure on the porous matrix that hosts them and may give rise to failure.

Because permeable media are mostly not transparent, the use of optical experimental tools for studying transport and phase changes in these media has its limits. TPM is one of the few groups in the world able to apply advanced imaging techniques like NMR imaging and CT to extreme challenging topics in the field of materials science. A nice example is our research on fierce boiling in porous media under extreme heating conditions (mimicking fire). Visualization and quantification of these processes by our experiments opens the door towards reliable modeling. For that reason, TPM owns and manages the Darcy Lab, which hosts a collection of unique NMR and CT facilities for porous media.