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Silica aerogels; a review of synthesis, applications and fabrication of hybrid composites

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Abstract

Silica aerogels are gaining significant importance and have attracted considerable interest due to their extraordinary properties and numerous applications. Silica aerogels are highly porous with high surface area and very low density and thermal conductivity. Usually they are prepared and synthesized via sol-gel technique, which involves making a sol containing a precursor, a solvent and a catalyst. The properties possessed by the final product depend upon numerous factors such as ratio of precursor to solvent and the drying method employed. Due to the flexibility of synthesis methods and the production of aerogels with tailored properties, silica aerogels have found numerous commercial applications and are being investigated of their suitability in several areas, such biomedical and aerospace engineering. Despite having exceptional properties, silica aerogels come with drawbacks such as brittleness and low mechanical strength, which can be resolved by fabricating composites extending the potential applications. This paper reviews the synthesis of silica aerogels via sol-gel technique, and the applications where this extraordinary material has shown promising results. The different materials used for the fabrication of composites to improve and enhance the physical and chemical properties of silica aerogels are also presented.

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  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, Quaid-e-Awam University of Engineering, Science & Technology, Nawabshah, Pakistan

    Faheem Akhter

  2. Department of Chemical Engineering, Mehran University of Engineering & Technology, Jamshoro, Pakistan

    Faheem Akhter & Suhail Ahmed Soomro

  3. Chemical and Process Engineering Department, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK

    Vassilis J. Inglezakis

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Conceptualization, F.A. and S.A.S.; methodology, F.A. and V.J.I; investigation, F.A.; resources, S.A.S. and M.S.; writing—original draft preparation, F.A.; writing—review and editing, V.J.I.; supervision, S.A.S. and M.S; project administration, V.J.I; funding acquisition, V.J.I. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

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Akhter, F., Soomro, S.A. & Inglezakis, V.J. Silica aerogels; a review of synthesis, applications and fabrication of hybrid composites. J Porous Mater 28, 1387–1400 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10934-021-01091-3

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