| Composites of silica aerogels with organics: a review of synthesis and mechanical properties |
Kyu‑Yeon Lee, Dinesh B. Mahadik, Vinayak G. Parale, Hyung‑Ho Park
|
| Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul 03722, Korea |
|
|
|
Received: June 10, 2019; Revised: July 16, 2019 Accepted: July 17, 2019. Published online: January 31, 2020. |
|
|
|
| ABSTRACT |
|
Aerogels are considered as outstanding future materials owing to their wide surface area and three-dimensional network of silica particles, low density, low-thermal conductivity, high porosity, and low dielectric property. Their outstanding characteristics represent excellent potential applications in thermal insulation systems, aeronautical domains, environmental clean-up and protection, as heat storage devices, transparent windows, thickening agents in paints, etc. Among these applications, thermal insulating materials can play a vital role in living systems and for saving energy in various domestic and industrial processes. However, native silica aerogels are fragile and sensitive to relatively low pressures, which limit their application. More robust aerogels with higher strength and stiffness can be obtained by compounding silica networks with organoalkoxysilanes, polymers or using porous scaffolds as supports. This paper presents a review on the approaches for mechanical reinforcing methods for silica aerogels and recent achievements toward improving the strength of native silica aerogels. In addition, various characteristics derived from composite aerogels are analyzed synthetically. |
| Key words:
Organic–inorganic · Aerogel · Organic cross linker · Composites · Mechanical strength |
|
PDF Links 
Full text via DOI
Download Citation 
