Shanyu Zhao

Fast and Minimal‐Solvent Production of Superinsulating Silica Aerogel Granulate

With their low thermal conductivity (λ), silica aerogels can reduce carbon emissions from heating and cooling demands, but their widespread adoption is limited by the high production cost. A one-pot synthesis for silica aerogel granulate is presented that drastically reduces solvent use, production time, and global warming potential. The inclusion of the hydrophobization agent prior to gelation with a post-gelation activation step, enables a complete production cycle of less than four hours at the lab scale for a solvent use close to the theoretical minimum, and limits the global warming potential. Importantly, the one-pot aerogel granulate retains the exceptional properties associated with silica aerogel, mostly λ=14.4±1.0 mW m-1 ⋅K-1 for the pilot scale materials, about half that of standing air (26 mW m-1 ⋅K-1 ). The resource-, time-, and cost-effective production will allow silica aerogels to break out of its niche into the mainstream building and industrial insulation markets.

Dimensional and Structural Control of Silica Aerogel Membranes for Miniaturized Motionless Gas Pumps

With growing public interest in portable electronics such as micro fuel cells, micro gas total analysis systems, and portable medical devices, the need for miniaturized air pumps with minimal electrical power consumption is on the rise. Thus, the development and downsizing of next-generation thermal transpiration gas pumps has been investigated intensively during the last decades. Such a system relies on a mesoporous membrane that generates a thermomolecular pressure gradient under the action of an applied temperature bias. However, the development of highly miniaturized active membrane materials with tailored porosity and optimized pumping performance remains a major challenge. Here we report a systematic study on the manufacturing of aerogel membranes using an optimized, minimal-shrinkage sol-gel process, leading to low thermal conductivity and high air conductance. This combination of properties results in superior performance for miniaturized thermomolecular air pump applications. The engineering of such aerogel membranes, which implies pore structure control and chemical surface modification, requires both chemical processing know-how and a detailed understanding of the influence of the material properties on the spatial flow rate density. Optimal pumping performance was found for devices with integrated membranes with a density of 0.062 g cm(-3) and an average pore size of 142.0 nm. Benchmarking of such low-density hydrophobic active aerogel membranes gave an air flow rate density of 3.85 sccm·cm(-2) at an operating temperature of 400 °C. Such a silica aerogel membrane based system has shown more than 50% higher pumping performance when compared to conventional transpiration pump membrane materials as well as the ability to withstand higher operating temperatures (up to 440 °C). This study highlights new perspectives for the development of miniaturized thermal transpiration air pumps while offering insights into the fundamentals of molecular pumping in three-dimensional open-mesoporous materials.

Synthesis and thermal insulation performance of silica aerogel from recycled coal gangue by means of ambient pressure drying

Silica aerogel materials are well recognized for their superinsulation performance and are regarded as one of the hot candidates to revolutionize building insulation. To date, high production cost related to exorbitant precursors as well as cumbrous multi-step hydrophobization process has often narrowed the field of applications. In this work, granular silica aerogel materials were synthesized by extracting SiO2 from recycled rich silicon coal gangue, followed by one-step hydrophobization and ambient pressure drying. Lightweight (about 0.16 g/cm3) and nanostructural aerogels were obtained through this route. They exhibit a 3D open porous microstructure with around 600 cm2/g surface area and 20 nm of the average pore diameter, thermal conductivity of 4-5 mm packed granules is 20-25 mW/(m·K), which was proved by both guarded hot plate and hot-wire transient methods. This study offers a new facile route for the synthesis of silica aerogel from recycled solid waste coal gangue and suggests a method, which may lead to a cost reduction in terms of industrial production.

Biopolymer Aerogels and Foams: Chemistry, Properties, and Applications

Biopolymer aerogels were among the first aerogels produced, but only in the last decade has research on biopolymer and biopolymer-composite aerogels become popular, motivated by sustainability arguments, their unique and tunable properties, and ease of functionalization. Biopolymer aerogels and open-cell foams have great potential for classical aerogel applications such as thermal insulation, as well as emerging applications in filtration, oil-water separation, CO2 capture, catalysis, and medicine. The biopolymer aerogel field today is driven forward by empirical materials discovery at the laboratory scale, but requires a firmer theoretical basis and pilot studies to close the gap to market. This Review includes a database with over 3800 biopolymer aerogel properties, evaluates the state of the biopolymer aerogel field, and critically discusses the scientific, technological, and commercial barriers to the commercialization of these exciting materials.

Design of a hierarchically structured hybrid material via in situ assembly of a silica aerogel into a wood cellular structure

A novel hierarchically structured wood-templated silica aerogel hybrid material was synthesized through sol impregnation and in situ gelation within a Norway spruce wood scaffold. Following chemical modification and supercritical drying of the microstructured gel phase, the desired hybrid wood–aerogel composite was obtained. The developed method presents a new route for efficient incorporation of highly mesoporous low-density silica aerogel into cellular biomaterial structures without the need for pretreatments to access the complex cellular level network. In-depth characterization using microtomography and electron microscopy revealed that the mesoporous silica aerogel filled the wood lumina to a very large extent, whereas no silica was deposited inside the wood cell walls. The incorporation of the hydrophobic aerogel substructure within the wood microstructure resulted in an improved dimensional stability and reduced moisture retention of the hybrid material which may lead to improved durability at higher humidity. Furthermore, the super-insulating silica aerogel phase leads to lower thermal conductivity and total heat of combustion. This study is viewed as a proof of concept for the in situ preparation of natural bio template based hybrid aerogels, and will enable a new generation of multifunctional bioinspired materials with tailored physical properties and applications.

A Novel Environmental Route to Ambient Pressure Dried Thermal Insulating Silica Aerogel via Recycled Coal Gangue

Coal gangue, one of the main hazardous emissions of purifying coal from coalmine industry, is rich in silica and alumina. However, the recycling of the waste is normally restricted by less efficient techniques and low attractive output; the utilization of such waste is still staying lower than 15%. In this work, the silica aerogel materials were synthesized by using a precursor extracted from recycled silicon-rich coal gangue, followed by a single-step surface silylation and ambient pressure drying. A low density (~0.19 g/cm3) nanostructured aerogel with a 3D open porous microstructure and high surface area (~690 m2/g) was synthesized, which presents a superior thermal insulation performance (~26.5 mW·m−1·K−1 of a plane packed of 4-5 mm granules which was confirmed by transient hot-wire method). This study offers a new facile route to the synthesis of insulating aerogel material by recycling solid waste coal gangue and presents a potential cost reduction of industrial production of silica aerogels.

Structural characteristics and photocatalytic activity of ambient pressure dried SiO2/TiO2 aerogel composites by one-step solvent exchange/surface modification

An ambient pressure synthesis of SiO2/TiO2 binary aerogel was prepared through the low-cost precursors of titanium tetrachloride (TiCl4) and sodium silicate (Na2O·nSiO2). After gelation, solvent exchange and surface modification were performed simultaneously and the modified gel was finally dried under ambient pressure. Microstructural analyses by transmission electron microscope (TEM) indicate that fabricated SiO2/TiO2 aerogel composite shows similar sponge-like nanostructure as silica aerogel, and the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analysis shows that the specific surface area of the composite reaches 605 m2/g, and the average pore size is 9.7 nm. Such binary aerogel exhibits significant photocatalytic performance in this paper for treating model pollutant of methyl orange (MO), and the decolorizing efficiency of MO is detected as 84.9% after 210 mins exposure to UV light irradiation. Degraded gel suspends in the water so as to separate from solution for reuse, and after 4 times recycling, 70% degradation efficiency can be easily reached when composite catalyzed system is exposed for 210 mins under UV irradiation.

Influence of drying methods on fractal geometric characteristics of mesoporous silica aerogels

Chemical modification/ambient drying method and freeze drying method were introduced to research the synthesis of mesoporous silica aerogels. By analyzing N2 gas adsorption/desorption isotherms, the fractal geometric characteristics of gels were focused. The overall surface fractal dimensions were determined by analyzing N2 gas adsorption branch and a Frenkel-Halsey-Hill (FHH) equation was empolyed to determine surface fractal dimension Df. It is found that, during ambient drying process, VTMCS/VWetgel ratio plays a crucial role in the changes of geometric feature, the key point is 50%, when the ratio is lower, and surface roughness increases with the ratio, when it exceeds 50%, the surface is almost unaffected by the modification. While freeze drying always tends to get larger Df, freeze drying process could cause a rough surface of the gels. Compared with traditional porosity and specific surface area analyses, fractal geometry may be expected to be favorable for mesoporous structural analyses of materials.

Effect of Admixtures Treated by Magnetic Field on Concrete

This research investigates the mechanical property of the concrete which were mixed with chemical admixtures and treated by magnetic field. Two chemical admixtures were used in this research: Concrete superplasiticizer SW-4 and early strength admixtures CF. Magnetic treated admixtures were obtained by passing liquors through a concrete magnetic-field-generating machine. Test variables included admixture dosage and curing age. Results show that liquor’s conductivity and surface tension have some special changes after treated by magnetic field, and using magnetic treated admixtures could improve the compressive strength of the concrete, reduce the setting times and improve its fluidity and magnetization improved cement hydrate degrees.

Microwave-assisted hydrothermal synthesis of carbon materials with tunable microstructure

A facile microwave-assisted hydrothermal route has been developed for a synthesis of versatile carbon materials. The monosaccharide fructose aqueous solution was adopted as the starting material, and the pH of the solution was adjusted to be in acidic (pH 4), neutral (pH 7) and basic (pH 10.5) conditions. The pH buffered fructose solutions were treated at different temperatures by a microwave-assisted hydrothermal technique. As-prepared carbon materials displayed pH and temperature dependent multi-morphologies (porous, spherical or core-shell), which were determined by transmission and scanning electron microscopic analyses (TEM and SEM). And the hypothesis of dehydration mechanism of hydrothermal synthesis was analyzed by ultraviolet extinction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. It was found that as compared with normal hydrothermal synthesis, microwave assistance could efficiently increase the production yield and improve the spherical geometry of the carbon particles in neutral condition. By changing the pH of the system, acidic pH induces aggregation of the spheres, while basic pH produces more trends toward core-shell or sponge-like porous structure. The study opens a novel route to the production of polytropic carbon materials and suggests a potential niche market established from the green synthesis.