Recap Science Café: Hidden Similarities in Porous Materials

In the world of scientific exploration, seemingly disparate fields often converge to reveal surprising connections. Consider the unlikely pairing of rock systems and inkjet printing, initially distant but closely linked through their shared characteristics as porous materials. These kind of hidden similarities served as the focal point in a recent Science Café discussion where the Structures of Strenght (SoS) team uses "porous materials" to create a common language to link several interdisciplinary works together. During the event, participants from a multitude of disciplines uncovered novel connections, showcasing how the topic of porous materials bridges diverse fields.

SoS is a multidisciplinary team of scientists and scholars representing diverse fields, including health, energy, food, and the environment. They explore the intriguing connections between their respective domains, fostering collaboration and shedding light on hidden parallels. Amir Raoof showed how the theme of porous materials highlights the similarities across many different applications: from geological formations to food items like bread and cheese, pollution and water desalinization filters, biological structures like bones and kidneys, and even art paintings. Beyond their research endeavors, the SoS team prioritizes facilitating knowledge exchange among disciplines, spurring innovative projects that bridge gaps between seemingly distinct areas of study.

The diversity in presentations was exemplary for the SoS team. Julian Quodbach, assistant professor in pharmaceutics, delved into the significance of tablet porosity in shaping drug dissolution rates and, consequently, drug absorption within the body. An enthusiastic comment from the audience highlighted that there was a striking resemblance between his pharmaceutical concepts and concepts often used in the realm of physics.

I’m flabbergasted, I use at least ten of the words in your last slide in the Theoretical Physics masters.

Silvia Mihăilă, assistant professor in pharmacology, unveiled how porous materials feature prominently in bioartificial kidneys, showcasing the role of dialyzers and efforts to enhance dialysis membranes. While a sample dialyzer was passed around in the audience, she emphasized that the knowledge from many different disciplines in the SoS team, was of direct use to her understanding of porous materials within her field.

Qianjing Tang, a PhD student in Hydrogeology, shifted the focus towards understanding printing paper as a porous material, revealing hidden similarities between hydrogeology and inkjet printing in his research. He presented samples illustrating simulated paper structures.

Jeroen Vollenbroek, a postdoc in nephrology at the UMCU, returned to the topic of dialysis and its profound impact on patients and the environment. His mission is unequivocal: to develop implantable artificial kidneys, striving to reduce the need for conventional dialysis treatments: ‘the most sustainable dialysis is no dialysis’.

The prevalence of porous materials in various applications makes porous materials research a promising avenue, particularly in sustainability studies. One pressing question SoS seeks to answer is how to construct sustainable porous materials. Amir firmly believes these materials hold the key to resolving sustainability challenges.

Porous materials are essential to solving the sustainability issues