Abstract
Nowadays, the rapid preparation of silica aerogel powders by ambient pressure drying (APD) method has been widely studied. However, the internal pore structures of the aerogel powders prepared by the conventional rapid aging method (CM) are difficult to be controlled due to the increase in the particle agglomeration and the macropores structure. In this research, a rapid way was introduced to control the microstructure of the silica aerogel powders through pore repairing (PR) method in the aging process. The bulk gel and gel particles were double aged to enhance the skeleton structure of gel particles. The new silica nanoparticles were formed, and filled in the macropores of gel particles by adhesion or deposition in the networks of gel particles during the late ageing process, the pore structure in the gel particles were uniform within just 2 h of aging. Under optimal ageing conditions, silica aerogel powders with low density (0.089 g/cm3), low thermal conductivity (0.0243 W/m K) and high specific surface (882 m2/g) was obtained through the pore repairing method. Pore repairing method in the aging process has certain research significance to control the pore structure of aerogel powders.
Graphical Abstract
Highlights
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The study of controlling the pore size distribution of silica aerogel powder was discussed for the first time.
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The pore repairing method endows the silica aerogel powder with uniform pore structure.
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The pore structure in the gel particles were uniform within just 2 h of aging.
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The thermal conductivities experiences were decreased from 0.0301 W/m·k to 0.0243 W/m·k, which is attributed to the macropore reduced.
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Thanks to Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility for its supporting.
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CL: performing the experiments, data curation, formal analysis, writing—original draft, writing—review and editing. YH: data curation, formal analysis, investigation. SW: data curation, formal analysis, investigation. HZ: data curation, formal analysis, investigation. LX: data curation, formal analysis, investigation. MW: formal analysis, writing—original draft, writing—review and editing.
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Li, C., He, Y., Wang, S. et al. Uniform pore structure silica aerogel powders prepared by pore repair method. J Sol-Gel Sci Technol 106, 715–725 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-023-06088-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-023-06088-9