Characteristics of Silica Aerogel Composites Synthesized by Ambient Drying Method

Aerogel has its advantages of light density of 0.003-0.35 g/cm3 and its high specific surface area, 600-1000m2/g, mean pore diameter ~20nm. However, aerogel has its disadvantages of fragility and high cost. To overcome the mechanical fragility, we synthesized aerogel composite blankets with glass wools by drying at ambient atmosphere. Colloidal silica sol was first prepared by ion exchanging sodium silicate through amberlite column. Then, glass wool was soaked into the pH-controlled silica aerogel and then gelated. Ageing of silica aerogel composite was conducted in purified water and solvent exchange/surface modification was simultaneously processed in hexane and TMCS solution. After drying at 60oC and heat-treatment at 230oC, we evaluated the properties of aerogel composite, its apparent density and specific surface area.