Effect of sodium bicarbonate solution on methyltrimethoxysilane-derived silica aerogels dried at ambient pressure

Abstract

Here we present an economical ambient pressure drying method of preparing monolithic silica aerogels from methyltrimethoxysilane precursor while using sodium bicarbonate solution as the exchanging solvent. We prepared silica aerogels with a density and a specific surface area of 0.053 g∙cm⁻³ and 423 m²∙g⁻¹, respectively. The average pore diameter of silica aerogels is 23 nm as the pore specific volume is 1.11 cm³∙g⁻¹. Further, the contact angle between water droplet and the surface of silica aerogels in specific condition can be as high as 166°, which indicates a super-hydrophobic surface of aerogels.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

silica aerogel / methyltrimethoxysilane / solvent exchange / sodium bicarbonate / trimethylchlorosilane / ambient pressure drying

References

[1] Hüsing N, Schubert U. Aerogels—airy materials: chemistry, structure, and properties. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 1998, 37(1-2): 22–45

[2] Wang C, Okubayashi S. 3D aerogel of cellulose triacetate with supercritical antisolvent process for drug delivery. Journal of Supercritical Fluids, 2019, 148: 33–41

[3] Wang C, Liang W, Yang Y, Liu F, Sun H, Zhu Z, Li A. Biomass carbon aerogels based shape-stable phase change composites with high light-to-thermal efficiency for energy storage. Renewable Energy, 2020, 153: 182–192

[4] Tsou P. Silica aerogel captures cosmic dust intact. Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, 1995, 186: 415–427

[5] Smirnova I, Gurikov P. Aerogels in chemical engineering: strategies toward tailor-made aerogels. Annual Review of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, 2017, 8(1): 307–334

[6] da Silva F T, de Oliveira J P, Fonseca L M, Bruni G P, da Rosa Zavareze E, Dias A R G. Physically cross-linked aerogels based on germinated and non-germinated wheat starch and PEO for application as water absorbers for food packaging. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 2020, 155: 6–13

[7] Ul Haq E, Zaidi S F A, Zubair M, Abdul Karim M R, Padmanabhan S K, Licciulli A. Hydrophobic silica aerogel glass-fibre composite with higher strength and thermal insulation based on methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS) precursor. Energy and Building, 2017, 151: 494–500

[8] Anderson A M, Carroll M K, Green E C, Melville J T, Bono M S. Hydrophobic silica aerogels prepared via rapid supercritical extraction. Journal of Sol-Gel Science and Technology, 2010, 53(2): 199–207

[9] Aegerter M A, Leventis N, Koebel M M. Aerogels Handbook. New York: Springer, 2011, 79, 105

[10] Gurav J L, Jung I K, Park H H, Kang E S, Nadargi D Y. Silica aerogel: synthesis and applications. Journal of Nanomaterials, 2010, 2010: 409310

[11] Rao A P, Rao A V, Pajonk G M. Hydrophobic and physical properties of the two step processed ambient pressure dried silica aerogels with various exchanging solvents. Journal of Sol-Gel Science and Technology, 2005, 36(3): 285–292

[12] Han X, Hassan K T, Harvey A, Kulijer D, Oila A, Hunt M R C, Šiller L. Bioinspired synthesis of monolithic and layered aerogels. Advanced Materials, 2018, 30(23): 1706294

[13] Bhagat S D, Oh C S, Kim Y H, Ahn Y S, Yeo J G. Methyltrimethoxysilane based monolithic silica aerogels via ambient pressure drying. Microporous and Mesoporous Materials, 2007, 100(1): 350–355

[14] Rao A V, Bhagat S D, Hirashima H, Pajonk G M. Synthesis of flexible silica aerogels using methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS) precursor. Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 2006, 300(1): 279–285

[15] Luo Y, Li Z, Zhang W, Yan H, Wang Y, Li M, Liu Q. Rapid synthesis and characterization of ambient pressure dried monolithic silica aerogels in ethanol/water co-solvent system. Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, 2019, 503-504: 214–223

[16] Cheng X, Li C, Shi X, Li Z, Gong L, Zhang H. Rapid synthesis of ambient pressure dried monolithic silica aerogels using water as the only solvent. Materials Letters, 2017, 204: 157–160

[17] Lana S L B, Seddon A B. X-ray diffraction studies of sol-gel derived ORMOSILs based on combinations of tetramethoxysilane and trimethoxysilane. Journal of Sol-Gel Science and Technology, 1998, 13(1): 461–466

[18] Widati A A, Nuryono N, Kartini I. Water-repellent glass coated with SiO₂-TiO₂-methyltrimethoxysilane through sol-gel coating. AIMS Materials Science, 2019, 6(1): 10–24

[19] Moriones P, Echeverria J C, Parra J B, Garrido J J. Phenyl siloxane hybrid xerogels: structure and porous texture. Adsorption, 2020, 26(2): 177–188

[20] Jeong A Y, Koo S M, Kim D P. Characterization of hydrophobic SiO₂ powders prepared by surface modification on wet gel. Journal of Sol-Gel Science and Technology, 2000, 19(1): 483–487

[21] Hering N, Schreiber K, Riedel R, Lichtenberger O, Woltersdorf J. Synthesis of polymeric precursors for the formation of nanocrystalline Ti-C-N/amorphous Si-C-N composites. Applied Organometallic Chemistry, 2001, 15(10): 879–886

[22] Łączka M, Cholewa-Kowalska K, Kogut M. Organic-inorganic hybrid glasses of selective optical transmission. Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, 2001, 287(1): 10–14

[23] Law K Y. Definitions for hydrophilicity, hydrophobicity, and superhydrophobicity: getting the basics right. Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 2014, 5(4): 686–688

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

The Author(s) 2021. This article is published with open access at link.springer.com and journal.hep.com.cn