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Eco-friendly approach for preparation of hybrid silica aerogel via freeze drying method

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Abstract

In this paper, an eco-friendly method of producing hybrid silica aerogels by freeze-drying method (FD) is proposed. In the freeze-drying system, deionized water was the only solvent, hybrid aerogels were prepared by acid–base catalysis and sol–gel method using methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS) and water–glass as co-precursors. The microstructure, specific surface area, pore size distribution and thermal properties of the hybrid aerogels were characterized and analyzed. It was found that all samples exhibited the dual-mesoporous structures, and the molar ratio of co-precursors had a significant effect on the performance of aerogels. The tap density decreased and the porosity increased with the increase in the molar ratio of MTMS, while the thermal diffusion coefficient and thermal conductivity of aerogel decreased first and then increased. Especially when the molar ratio is 2.0, the hybrid aerogels exhibited excellent insulation performance, such as thermal diffusion coefficient of 0.0183 mm s−1, thermal conductivity of 0.0460 W(m k)−1 and great thermal stability up to 540 °C. It illustrates that hybrid aerogels have broad application prospects as insulation materials.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Nation Key R&D Program of China (2017YFB0309100), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No.2019T120390); Jiangsu Planned Projects for Postdoctoral research funds (No. 2018K018A) ; the National Natural Science Foundation of China [No.31470509] and the Key Laboratory of Eco-textiles, Ministry of Education— (supported by “the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities NO. JUSRP52007A).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jiangsu Engineering Technology Research Centre of Functional Textiles, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, China

    Shengnan Zhai, Chaoran Meng, Hongbo Wang & Jiajia Fu

  2. Education Ministry Ley Laboratory of Science & Technology for Eco-Textiles, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, China

    Shengnan Zhai, Chaoran Meng, Hongbo Wang & Jiajia Fu

  3. Key Laboratory of Eco-Textile of Ministry of Education, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, China

    Kejing Yu

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  1. Shengnan Zhai
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Correspondence to Hongbo Wang or Jiajia Fu.

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Appendices

Appendix 1

$${\text{Porosity}} = \left( {1 - \rho /\rho s } \right) \times 100\%$$
(1)

Appendix 2

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Zhai, S., Yu, K., Meng, C. et al. Eco-friendly approach for preparation of hybrid silica aerogel via freeze drying method. J Mater Sci 57, 7491–7502 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-021-06835-9

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