The porosity of a material affects its physical properties and, subsequently, its behavior in its surrounding environment. The term “porosimetry” is often used to encompass the measurements of pore size, volume, distribution, density, and other porosity-related characteristics of a material. The adsorption and permeability, strength, density, and other factors influenced by a substance’s porosity determine the manner and fashion in which it can be appropriately used.

Mercury porosimetry routinely is applied over a capillary diameter range from 0.003 to 360 µm (five orders of magnitude). This would be equivalent to using the same tool to measure accurately and precisely both the height of a 30-story building and the diameter of a grain of sand.

Materials inherently requiring an understanding of their porosity include ceramics, clays, soils, cements, catalysts, zeolites, many metallic compounds, pharmaceuticals, and others. The Micromeritics AutoPore IV is a high-pressure mercury intrusion porosimeter that provides extremely accurate, fully automated porosity measurements with a high dynamic range, and is suitable for a wide variety of applications.

Micromeritics also provides a number of Mercury Porosimetry Reference Materials for use in the above mentioned systems. Please contact us for more information on which reference materials best apply to your application and type of instrument.