WHIPPING UP METAL FOAMS

Abstract

HAVING LITERALLY RISEN FROM the ashes of a ruined experiment, Bryce C. Tappan's nanoporous metallic foams are veritable phoenixes of chemical research. With their ultralow density and remarkably high surface area, these nanostructured materials could accelerate development in areas as diverse as catalysis and bone replacement (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2006,128, 6589). Tappan, a materials chemist at Los Alamos National Laboratory, created the material accidentally when he was carrying out a routine burning-rate experiment to study the decomposition of the nitrogen-rich iron complex ammonium tris{bi(tetrazolato)- amine}ferrate(III). He ignited a small pellet of the metal complex, expecting it to either explode or slowly burn. Instead, smoke filled the reaction chamber, obscuring Tappan's view and making it impossible to record the material's decomposition. Thinking his experiment had been a complete failure, Tappan set about cleaning out the reaction chamber so he could start over. But when I opened up the vess...