Tanya Faltens

Acoustic Properties of Organic/Inorganic Composite Aerogels

Composite aerogels (with varying concentrations of silica and poly-dimethylsiloxane) were developed and their acoustic absorption coefficient as a function of composition and average pores size have been measured. The polydimethylsiloxane modified the ceramic structure of the silica aerogels, decreasing the material’s rigidity while maintaining the high porosity of the aerogel structure. The composite aerogels were found to exhibit different modes of acoustic absorption than that of typical porous absorbers such as fiberglass. At some frequencies, the composite aerogels had 40% higher absorption than that of commercial fiberglass. Physical data show that these materials have a large surface area (> 400 m2/g) and varying pore sizes (d ˜ 5 - 20 nm).