Introduction

E. F. MEDICI; A. D. OTERO

Album of Porous Media. Structure and Dynamics

Springer Nature

Lugar: Berlín; Año: 2023; p. 1 - 7

Images of events and abstract concepts have played a major role in the formulation and communication of ideas since the beginning of written history or perhaps even earlier if one takes into consideration the petroglyphs featuring artistic representations of the natural world. The invention of photography in the nineteenth century and the more recent advances in optical techniques have catalyzed an enormous wealth of insights into every field of science and engineering by extending our senses far beyond what we are capable of actually perceiving. Such fascinating and rapidly increasing developments in visualization techniques have motivated several editions of atlases and albums of images of physical phenomena, such as the “Atlas of Optical Phenomena,” that summarize these advances in different fields of science.The field of porous media has also benefited enormously from the developments in visualization techniques. Indeed, improvements in these techniques have led to better morphological characterization of porous media and enhanced understanding of the different physical processes, such as mass transport, capillarity, swelling, and fracturing, that can occur at the pore level. These observations, in turn, have led to better usage practices for existing porous materials as well as to the design of new products that have porous materials. A list of examples of better usage includes better techniques for aquifer management, secondary oil recovery, and mitigation strategies in the transport of pollutants. Technical clothing and products for incontinence that have been developed by the textile industry as well as porous structural support for lightweight applications are examples of these new porous materials. However, to date, there is no book compilation or album that has a primary focus on visualization in porous media. Therefore, this album is aimed at providing a collection of state‐of‐the‐art visualization of the different science and engineering aspects of porous media to serve as a reference for future research and education. This collection of scientific works covers experimental and computational visualizations, including high-resolution pore morphology, visualization of new porous materials, and visualization of the different transport processes that occur in porous materials as well as in other aspects. In addition, historical images that have played a pivotal role in the understanding of porous media phenomena. To cover all these aspects properly, the album is organized into thematic chapters. Each chapter includes a collection of images accompanied by a brief description of the novelty of the observation, the technique used, and phenomenological insights.