Abstract
Aerogels with reduced fragility and increased hydrophobicity have significant potential to expand their use as lightweight structural, insulating or shock absorbing materials especially in aeronautics, microelectronics, and sensing applications. In addition, there is a potential for extremely hydrophobic aerogels in oil-spill clean-up applications. This chapter describes synthesis, physico-chemical properties, and applications of flexible superhydrophobic silica aerogels that is to say silica aerogels with typical water contact angles >150° and high mechanical flexibility. Such materials are accessible via a two-step sol–gel process from methyl-trialkoxysilane precursors. Extreme hydrophobicity has been obtained with measured water contact angles as high as 175°. The criticality of the water droplet size on a superhydrophobic aerogel was determined to be 2.7 mm. The velocity of the water droplet on such a superhydrophobic surface has been observed to be 1.44 m/s for 55° inclination, which is close to the free fall velocity (~1.5 m/s). Elastic and rheological properties of as-prepared aerogels are also described in this chapter. Young’s modulus of the aerogels is determined by uniaxial compression test measurements. Apart from synthesis and characterization, emphasis is placed on their potential use as shock absorbing materials and efficient absorbents of oil and organic compounds in general.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Buzykaev A. et al (1996) Project of aerogel cherenkov counters for KEDR, J. Nucl. Instr. and Meth. Phys. Res. A 379: 453–456
Carlson P.J., Johansson K.E., Norrloy J.K., Pingot O., Tacernier S., Bogert F., Luncker L. (1979) Increased photoelectron collection efficiency of a photomultiplier in an aerogel cherenkov counter, J. Nucl. Instr. and Meth. Phys. Res. A 160: 407–410
Cunha P., Neves F., Lopes M. (2000) On the reconstruction of Cherenkov rings from aerogel radiators, J Nucl. Instr. and Meth. Phys. Res. A 452: 401–421
Jang K. Y., Kim K., Uphadye R. S.: Hollow silica spheres of controlled size and porosity by sol-gel processing, J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 74, 1987–1992 (1991)
Nguyen B. N., Meador M. A. B., Tousley M. E., Shonkwiler B., McCorkle L., Scheiman D. A., Palczer A.: Tailoring elastic properties of silica aerogels cross-linked with polystyrene, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 1, 621–630 (2009)
Mulik S., Sotiriou-Leventis C., Churu G., Lu H, Leventis N.: Cross-linking 3D assemblies of nanoparticles into mechanically strong aerogels by surface-initiated free-radical polymerization, Chem. Mater. 20, 5035–5046 (2008)
Meador M. A. B., Weber A. S., Hindi A., Naumenko M., McCorkle L., Quade D., Vivod S. L., Gould G. L., White S., Deshpande K.: Structure-property relationships in porous 3D nanostructures: epoxy-cross-linked silica aerogels produced using ethanol as the solvent, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 1, 894–906 (2009)
Meador M. A., Vivod S. L., McCorkle L., Quade D., Sullivan R. M., L. Ghson J., Clark N., Capaclona L. A.: Reinforcing polymer cross-linked aerogels with carbon nanofibers, J. Mater. Chem 18, 1843–1852 (2008)
Capadona, L. A.; Meador M. A. B., Alunni A., Fabrizio E. F., Vassilaras P., Leventis N.: Flexible, low-density polymer crosslinked silica aerogels, Polymer 47, 5754–5761 (2006)
Kramer S. J., Rubio-Alonso F., Mackenzie J. D.: Organically modified silicate aerogels, aeromosils, Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 435, 295–299 (1996)
Kanamori K., Aizawa M., Nakanishi K, Hanada T.: New transparent methylsilsesquioxane aerogels and xerogels with improved mechanical properties, Adv. Mater. 19, 1589–1593 (2007)
Loy D. A., K. J. Shea: Bridged polysilsesquioxanes: highly porous hybrid organic-inorganic materials, Chem. Rev. 95, 1431–1442 (1995)
Loy D. A., Jamison G. M., Baugher B. M., S Myers. A., Assink R. A., Shea K. J.: Sol-gel synthesis of hybrid organic-inorganic materials. hexylene- and phenylene-bridged polysiloxanes, Chem. Mater. 8, 656–663 (1996)
Shea K. J., Loy D. A.: Bridged polysilsesquioxanes: molecular-engineered hybrid organic-inorganic materials, Chem. Mater. 13, 306–331 (2001)
Reynolds J. G., Coronado P. R., Hrubesh L. W.: Hydrophobic aerogels for oil-spill clean up - synthesis and characterization, J. Non-Cryst. Solids 292, 127–137 (2001)
Hrubesh L. W., Coronado P. R., Satcher Jr. J. H.: Solvent removal from water with hydrophobic aerogels, J. Non-Cryst. Solids 285, 328–332 (2001)
Suzana S., Zoran N., Zeljko Kenz: Adsorption of toxic organic compounds from water with hydrophobic silica aerogels, J. Colloid and Interface Science 310, 362–368 (2007)
A. Venkateswara Rao, Hegde N. D. Hirashima H.: Absorption and desorption of organic liquids in elastic superhydrophobic silica aerogels, J. Colloid and Interface Science 305, 124–132 (2007)
Gurav J. L., A. Venkateswara Rao, Nadargi D. Y., Park H. H.: Ambient pressure dried TEOS-based silica aerogels: good absorbents of organic liquids, J. Mater Sci 45, 503–510 (2010)
Hering N., Schriber K., Riedel R., Lichtenberger O., Woltersodorf J.: Synthesis of polymeric precursors for the formation of nanocrystalline Ti-C-N/amorphous Si-C-N composites, J. Appl. Organometal. Chem. 15, 879–886 (2001)
Laczka M., Cholwa-Kowalska K., Kogut M.: Organic-inorganic hybrid glasses of selective optical transmission, J.Non-Cryst. Solids 287, 10–14 (2001)
Arthur B.: The Mainstream of Physics. Wesley Publishing Company Inc., Second Edition (1962)
A. Venkateswara Rao, Kulkarni M. M., Bhagat S. D.: Transport of liquids using superhydrophobic aerogels, J. Colloid and Interface Science, 285, 413–418 (2005)
Isenberg, C.: The science of soap films and soap bubbles. In: general introduction, pp. 1–26 General publishing company, Canada (1992)
Fridrikhsberg D. A. (1986) A Course in Colloid Chemistry. Mir Publishers, Moscow
Resnick R., Halliday D., Walker J.: Fundamentals of Physics, 6th Edition, John Wiley & Sons (2001)
Nadargi D. Y., Latthe S. S., Hirashima H., A. Venkateswara Rao,: Studies on rheological properties of methyltriethoxysilane (MTES) based flexible superhydrophobic silica aerogels, J. Microporous and Mesoporous Mat. 117, 617–626 (2009)
A. Venkateswara Rao, Bhagat S. D., Hiroshima H., Pajonk G. M.: Synthesis of flexible silica aerogels using methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS) precursor, J. Colloid and Interface Sci., 300 279–285 (2006)
Wald, M. L., Clarifying Questions of Liability, Cleanup and Consequences, NY Times, 2010, May 6th issue
Fingus, M. Oil spills and their cleanup. Chemistry Industry 1005–1008 (1995)
Arthur B (1962) The mainstream of physics. Addison Wesley Publishing Company Inc., Second Edition
Delaune R.D., Lindau C.W., Jugsujinda A.: Effectiveness of “Nochar” solidifier polymer in removing oil from open water in coastal wetlands, Spill Science & Technology Bulletin 5, 357–359 (1999)
Teas Ch., Kalligeros S, Zanikos F., Stournas S., Lois E., Anastopoulos G.: Investigation of the effectiveness of absorbent materials in oil spills clean up, Desalination 140, 259–264 (2001)
Doerffer J.W. (1992) Oil spill response in the marine environment. Pergamon Press, Oxford
Lessard RR, Demarco G: The significance of oil spill dispersants, Spill Sci Technol Bull 6, 59–68 (2000)
Newman F.H., Searle V.H.L.: The general properties of matter. Orient Longmans, Fifth Edition (1957)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Rao, A.V., Pajonk, G.M., Nadargi, D.Y., Koebel, M.M. (2011). Superhydrophobic and Flexible Aerogels. In: Aegerter, M., Leventis, N., Koebel, M. (eds) Aerogels Handbook. Advances in Sol-Gel Derived Materials and Technologies. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-7589-8_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-7589-8_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-7477-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-7589-8
eBook Packages: Physics and AstronomyPhysics and Astronomy (R0)