Patent ID: 6984671

Claim:
A flat, porous, rigid disc having an outer surface defining a shape having a bulk volume and having interconnecting openings extending throughout said volume in a reticulated, three dimensional configuration and opening through said surface, said article being formed by a method comprising forming into a predetermined shape a shapeable, viscous mixture comprising a sinterable powder comprised of particles dispersed in a sol of a polymer in a primary solvent, contacting said sol in the primary solvent with a secondary liquid in which the polymer is insoluble to produce a gel comprising an open polymeric network comprised of microfibrils and having said sinterable powder arranged therein with the positions of the particles guided by the positions of the microfibrils, removing said secondary liquid from the gel, and heating the gel to remove said polymeric network and to sinter said sinterable powder to form said shaped porous structure, the resulting reticulated, three dimensional configuration of the product following the position of the microfibrils.