Porous glasses from aerogels: from organic liquid to mineral materials

Abstract

According to an easy sintering stage, composite aerogels are alternative ways to synthesize silica glass at temperatures ranging from 900 to 1200 °C, close to half the temperatures used for the glass melting process. The heat treatment is tailored to obtain fully densified or porous glasses. The kinetics of dimensional shrinkage is characterized during the sintering mechanism, and we confirmed that the viscous flow-sintering model also applies to composite aerogels. Porous glasses with a broad range of porosity and physical properties (mechanical strength, elasticity modulus, permeability) have been synthesized. The open pore structure is used to synthesize glass ceramics.

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“…The small spherical SiO 2 clusters (3-4 nm in diameter) in aerogels form chains and a grid with air-filled pores, giving them excellent thermal insulation properties (conductivity lower than 28 mWm −1 •K −1 ) because of a small pore size that limits gas phase conduction [23]. In the past, low thermal conductivity was the most researched aspect of aerogels, but because of their small pore size and high surface areas, their use is now being explored for various other applications, such as removing water pollutants, drug delivery [24], sensors [25], gas absorption [26], radioactive waste confinement [27], nuclear particle detection [28], electronic devices [29], catalysis [30], and surface coatings (self-cleaning coatings and chemicals) [31]. Depending on the purpose and the production method, aerogels can be produced either in monolith or particle form.…”