Send a Porosimetry Inquiry | Method Selection & Sample Questions

Last reviewed: May 8, 2026

How to send a useful inquiry

A short, structured email gets a faster and more accurate reply than an open-ended question. The most informative inquiries describe four things: the material, the pore size range you expect, the parameter you want to extract, and any constraints on the measurement (sample mass, hazard class, prior data).

Information that helps the response

Material class — ceramic, polymer or polymer membrane, metal or alloy, geological core, pharmaceutical excipient or tablet, catalyst or catalyst support, cementitious material, MOF/zeolite, battery electrode or separator.
Expected pore size range — micropores (< 2 nm), mesopores (2–50 nm), macropores (50 nm to ~1 mm), or through-pores (membranes/filters).
Parameter of interest — pore size distribution, total pore volume, BET surface area, micropore volume, bubble point, mean flow pore size, tortuosity, etc.
Sample availability — typical mass or area available, hygroscopicity, thermal stability for degassing, any hazard class.
Prior data — any previous porosimetry, BET, or imaging results that constrain the expected answer.

Method-selection shortcuts

Many inquiries can be answered before a sample is shipped by reading the comparison pages directly. The three most common decision points are summarized below.

MIP vs. gas adsorption — choose between mercury porosimetry (macropores down to ~3 nm) and gas adsorption (micropores and mesopores) based on pore size range and whether the sample tolerates mercury intrusion.
Porosimetry vs. porometry — total pores (open and closed-but-accessible) versus through-pores only. Filtration QC almost always wants porometry.
Nitrogen vs. argon adsorption — argon at 87 K resolves narrow micropores below 1 nm where nitrogen quadrupole effects distort the isotherm.

Send your inquiry

Email a short description matching the structure above to:

[email protected]

Replies are sent from the same address. The response time depends on the complexity of the question and is typically within several business days. There is no fixed price list on this site — method-specific cost estimates depend on the laboratory or service provider you ultimately use, and the appropriate contact for that is the analytical lab itself.

What this page is not

This site is an editorial reference on pore structure analysis. It is not a testing laboratory, an instrument vendor, or a brokerage that books analytical services on your behalf. If you need a commercial testing engagement, the inquiry channel above is for technical questions only — the actual booking, scheduling, and pricing of a measurement is handled by the analytical lab you contract with directly.

Common inquiry topics

Choosing between BJH and DFT for mesopore size distribution.
Whether the BET equation is being applied in a valid P/P₀ range for a given isotherm.
Identifying the IUPAC isotherm type and hysteresis loop class on a measured curve.
Diagnosing the ink-bottle effect and other shape artifacts in mercury intrusion data.
Estimating the right contact angle and surface tension for the Washburn calculation when the sample is not a standard ceramic.
Wetting-fluid choice and bubble-point procedure for capillary flow porometry on hydrophobic membranes.

Information here is provided for general educational and reference purposes. It is not a substitute for accredited laboratory analysis or for engineering judgment on regulated or safety-critical decisions.