Hierarchical porous TiAl3 intermetallics synthesized by thermal explosion with a leachable space-holder material

•TiAl3 intermetallics are synthesized by an energy and time saving process of TE.•Highly porosity of 86.3 vol% is obtained by adding NaCl space holder.•Porous TiAl3 materials exhibit a hierarchical pore structure.

Porous TiAl3 intermetallics were synthesized by thermal explosion (TE) reaction with NaCl as space holder material, from Ti-75Al at.% elemental powders. Results showed that the actual temperature of specimen climbed rapidly from 667 °C to 1106 °C. As a consequence, porous TiAl3 intermetallics with high open porosity (>80%) can be easily achieved when adding NaCl particles above 50 vol%. XRD patterns showed that only single-phase TiAl3 compound was synthesized via TE. Hierarchical porous TiAl3 materials displayed three pore structures, including large pores replicating from original NaCl particles, small pores among the skeletons, and tiny pores precipitated from particle skeletons. Moreover, porous TiAl3 intermetallics exhibited a uniform pore size distribution and formed an open-cellular structures allowing for the liquid-gas separation and filtration applications.