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Particle stabilized liquid foams are used as templates to obtain carbon-based porous materials with open cell structure, high specific area and hierarchical porosity. This route relies on gel casting to strengthen the structure of the liquid foams, followed by high temperature treatment to eliminate organic components and obtain solid foams. The liquid foam stabilizer was a commercial activated carbon powder, characterized by high porosity and irregular morphology of the particles, associated with a cationic surfactant. The micro-structure and the textural properties of the final solid materials have been investigated by Scanning Electronic Microscopy and Nitrogen adsorption methods. The results show that this method can be used to fabricate high specific area porous materials in the form of monoliths, with adequate consistence and mechanical resistance. The materials obtained seem promising for many practical applications such as gas adsorption, filtering and catalysis.

The thermodynamic properties of liquid In-Sn alloys indicate a weak interactions between unlike atoms. The new In, Sn and In-Sn surface tension experimental data set obtained by the large-drop method over the temperature range 523-923 K together with the literature data on different thermophysical properties substantiate a nearly ideal mixing behaviour of these alloys. A low interaction energies do not effect the composition dependence of thermophysical properties, in particular the surface tension and the surface segregation. In order to estimate the effects of the short-range order phenomenon on the surface properties of In-Sn liquids, the QCA (quasi chemical approximation) for the regular solution model and the CFM (compound formation model) have been applied. In the same framework the transport properties and the structural characteristics of liquid In-Sn alloys have also been analysed.